Runaway
by lilyflower666
Summary: Yugi has always been a runner, and was the reason as to why he joined the track team. Being unnoticed has allowed him to float through life. When he suddenly becomes the center of attention though, will he accept it? Or lash out in ways not even those who know him will expect? Also, what happened in his past? Who were his parents, and why can't he remember anything before three?
1. The Freshalls

**Right, so I was going to wait until I finished mmml to put one of these up, but I couldn't anymore. This one wasn't winning the poll, which I just closed two minutes ago, but I don't care. I like it more than the other one, and have been working on it more than the other one too. So, I do not own Yugioh, enjoy!**

 **Oh! Warning! Yugi is a bit, eh, rude in this one, and don't expect it to clear up anytime soon.**

Runaway

Chapter 1

Yugi huffed again, this was his what, eighth adoption in the past three months? He was 17, practically an adult, he didn't need any good doers adopting him. He was better off on his own. Yugi was short for his age, and he had yet to grow any facial hair, but it wasn't from lack of trying. His baby face didn't exactly help, nor did his large amethyst eyes that covered most of face. His hair was a crown of three colors and he sometimes wondered if it was hereditary, or if his parents had used him for odd experiments.

He never really knew them. He was taken from them when he was three, but he could never remember why. He didn't have any other family, so he was put in foster care. He had always been tossed from family to family, no one really seemed to want him. And at the age of ten, he found out he had an affinity for running, found it exhilarating actually. So started his career of a runaway.

If he didn't like the home he would just runaway. Usually back to the Orphanage, which wasn't any better, but he really didn't have anywhere else to go. He was a loner at school. No one talked to him or approached him. Sure he may have been the star of the track team, but next to his hotter track members he was easily looked over.

"Alright, Mutou, let's try this again," the Director said coming into the waiting room. He had a smiling couple behind him. Great another couple that was probably going to try to shove their ideas of love on him. Lucky him. Love didn't exist, in any shape or form, so he didn't know why anyone was suggesting that it did.

"Mutou! Are you listening to me?" the Director asked pulling him from his thoughts.

"Nope," Yugi answered.

"Sounds like someone has an attitude problem," the male teased.

"Sounds like someone thinks I'm five," Yugi said back in the same tone.

"Enough," the Director cut in. "Yugi, these are the Freshalls. They have successfully adopted two other children named Ryou and Malik. They're your age too, so maybe you'll find something in common."

"Doubt it," Yugi mumbled.

"Please do me a favor and just try to fit into this home?"

"Not likely to happen, so why bother in the first place?"

The Director sighed, turning to the Freshalls. "There's a reason as to why the other children, as well as myself, call him the runaway. Don't be surprised if you wake up one morning and not find him in his bed where you left him. Though, you're welcome to pick him up from the Orphanage at any time of your choosing. If you want to of course, most families don't."

"Well, don't you worry. He'll have no reason to run from us." The female said.

"That's what they all say," the Director said taking off his glasses and pinching his nose. He sighed, before putting the glasses back on. "Well, I'll just leave you guys to it, and hopefully we never see the runaway again." The Director walked out off towards his office muttering about probably seeing him again in two days.

"Well, Yugi, you can call me Mira, and this is my husband Dilan." The female said.

"Yeah, I don't do names," Yugi said swinging his back pack over his shoulder. "You'll be female, and he'll be male. It's easier not to get attached that way." He walked past them and out the door. There was a shabby car parked out front, and he figured it was theirs, so he just jumped in without invitation.

The male and female came out of the building slowly, and paused at seeing him in the car already. The male looked like he was laughing, before he walked around to the driver's side and hopped in himself. The female got into the passenger's seat, and turned to him.

"How did you know this was our car?"

"Uh, cause it was out front and unlocked?"

"It could have been someone else's car."

"Oh no, it's shabby like you guys, so it couldn't have been anyone else's," Yugi sneered.

She turned back around in her seat. "Drive," she ordered her husband.

"Yes dear," he said putting it into gear and pulling away from the curb.

"So you're the lap dog in this scenario, huh male?"

He glanced at him through his rearview mirror. "So tell me, how many days will it be before you start using our names?"

"Zero, you'll be taking me back to the Orphanage in 30 anyway."

"Is that why it's easier not to do names? Tell me when did you give them up?"

"None yuh biz."

The car ride was silent after that. They seemed to realize either that he wasn't in the talking mood, or they weren't going to get any real answers out of him. They pulled up in front of a cliché house. Yellow paint, blue shutters, and picket white fence. He got out of the car, making sure to slam the door, and looked up and down the street. They were all like that, must be a subdivision.

"Welcome home, Yugi," the female said putting her hand on his shoulder. He pushed it off. _Mothers_.

He walked up the path and opened the door. Two heads poked out of one of the rooms, he raised his eyebrows, surprised that he recognized them. They were the blonde sidekick, and the snow white kid. Now, while no one noticed him, he noticed everyone, and gave them all nicknames.

"Hey look, its snow white and the sidekick."

"Mutou." They said back faces falling slightly.

"Say hi to your new brother," the female said coming in behind him.

"Whoa, whoa, you're not even going to adopt me, so don't get their hopes up by having them call me brother. I don't do any of that icky family stuff anyway."

"Well, son, this will be your room," the male said opening a door on the first floor to a decent sized abode. He nodded, he could sleep here for a couple of days. It was a white room, with a choice of blue or green sheets for the bed. It had a dresser, a decent sized desk, a small closet with a mirror attached to the inside of the door, an in room bathroom, and hardwood floors that creaked when he walked across them. He threw his pack onto the bed, and fished out his iPod. He had saved up for ages to buy one, and had filled it up with what the Director called angry songs.

"Well, I'm gonna take a run of the neighborhood. Get a good look around, and be back by four," Yugi said putting his headphones in.

"Um, okay, and when you get back we can give you a tour of the rest of the house," the female said.

"Yeah, sounds great," Yugi nodded walking out the front door. He turned on his iPod to Perfect Life by Red. His all-time favorite band. And Escape the Fate and Fall-Out Boy too. Those were other favorite bands of his. Yugi stretched before he took off running down the sidewalk.

It was just him and Red. Release the Panic was his favorite album by them. He started to run faster, the wind moving through his hair. He noticed that no one was in front of him, so he closed his eyes and just listened to the song as he ran. It was so fitting, every new family looked perfect, but it was all lies. They all turned on him in the end. He supposed he was partially to blame, with shutting everyone out the way he did, but it was just who he had become. When you were returned to the same Orphanage 103 times, you kind of closed up against the world. It was easier to not get hurt that way. His eyes snapped open just as he crashed into another human being.

"Hey, watch where you're going," they said as they stood back up. They grabbed his arm and yanked him up too.

"Sorry, no one was in front of me a mile ago. Where did you even come from?" Yugi asked brushing dirt from his pants.

"My home," he sounded like he was pointing. "Say, are you new around here?"

"Yeah, I live with the Freshalls, for now," he replied checking his iPod to make sure it wasn't damaged in the fall. A hand grasped his chin and yanked his head up to stare into red violet ones.

"You should look at someone when they're talking to you."

Yugi smacked his hand away, "don't touch me."

"You're cute," they said shaking their hand slightly. Yugi rolled his eyes. "No, I mean it, you're really cute."

"Go to hell," Yugi replied making to move past him. He knew who this was. This was the boyfriend of that really possessive guy, Atem. This was Yami. He called them the clone twins though, because they all looked similar, and were a year younger than him.

"Ah, wait, what's your name?" Yugi snorted, and let out a small laugh. "What's so funny?" he asked like he was really confused.

Yugi grasped his hand and patted it, "don't you worry I know who you are. You're one of the clone twins. Where's the possessive boyfriend?"

"Ah," he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, "he's…wait, what do you mean clone twin? I'm not a clone."

Yugi rolled his eyes, sighing before turning and running again. He passed Atem on his way around the corner, and the latter did a double take of him. He didn't pay him any mind though, and just kept running. He eventually came across a trail, and ran along that. It led to a whole different subdivision. Geez, just how big was this thing? He'd find out a different day. For now he turned around and headed back the way he came.

The clone twins were waiting at the end of the trail for him. He raised an eyebrow at them and discreetly turned up his music, as he took off down a different sidewalk path then the one he came in on. If this subdivision was really connected in the way that he thought it was, he would find his new street again. He lowered the music again, and heard the pitter patter of feet behind him. He looked briefly over his shoulder to see them pursuing him. He threw them a smirk before shutting off his music all together and just running.

There was a reason why he was the track star of Domino High, people underestimated him because of his height. He was very fast though, something he had learned to be from countless years of being pursued by bullies. They gave up in High School though, they couldn't catch him anymore. This was no different. He hadn't been planning on out running anyone, but since they insisted, who was he to disappoint?

By the time he got back to the Freshalls, they were nowhere in sight. Either they gave up or he lost them, put it was probably the first choice. Most did after all. He climbed the steps and walked inside making a show of pulling his headphones out. He went into his room and collapsed on the bed, breathing heavily.

"Would you like some water?" the male asked from his doorway.

Yugi sat up to see him holding a cold water bottle. He could see the condensation dripping down it. He followed one droplet all the way to the floor. "I'd love some, thanks." The male walked into his room and handed him the bottle.

"So, Ryou told us that you're on the track team."

"Yeah."

"You run?"

"I'm the best. No one can out run me."

"Really?"

"Yep! I'm underestimated you see, because of my height, it's a great advantage in the field," Yugi said opening the water bottle. He didn't guzzle the water though, he drank it in slow steady gulps. He'd learned early that guzzling water was bad to do after a hard run, it was much better for your body to take slow steady gulps. Still, it was a mistake he often saw many of his fellow track members making, repeatedly, the lesson never learned.

"Sounds like you're very passionate about it."

"I am. If I didn't have track, then I wouldn't have anything," Yugi replied slowly looking off towards something only he could see. He blinked then, and seemed to realize he was having a decent conversation with someone and went back to his rude demeanor. "Was there anything else you wanted male?"

"Yes," he rose to his feet, "the female is cooking steak, and while attending is optional, I would highly suggest that you _don't_ pass it up."

"I suppose I can suffer through one meal with you guys."

"How gracious of you. Dinner is at six sharp, every night. Remember it is optional, but I would suggest you don't miss it anyway." With that little speech he started to walk out.

"Pretty picture," Yugi muttered falling back down onto the bed.

"What was that?" he asked pausing in the doorway.

"Nothing," Yugi responded as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" the female called. There was a murmur of talking before the screen door sounded like it was opening and someone was coming in. Yugi walked towards his door looking out curiously, thinking it must be one of the other's friends. But no, it was the possessive clone.

"Look, I barely even touched the boyfriend, okay?" Yugi called gaining Atem's instant attention. "So could the possessive clone go suck his dick and make him feel better now?" the female's mouth dropped open, as Atem's eyes widened slightly, his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline. Laughter filled the house from the other three occupants. Yugi gave him a little salute with his middle finger, and retreated back into his bedroom making sure to shut the door.

 _Knock_. _Knock_.

"Actually, I came to ask if you wanted to run with Yami and I tomorrow morning," Atem said through his door.

"Tch, like you could keep up."

"Well, you know what they say, if you want to be the best, you must hang out with the best."

"Yeah, I think you should just go back to ignoring me. That'll be the _best_."

"Huh? I thought you were new to the neighborhood?"

"The neighborhood, yes, our school not so much."

"We go to the same school?"

Yugi rolled his eyes, that question didn't even deserve an answer. Not only did they all go to the same school, they had a six classes together, and were both on the track team. You'd think they'd recognize his run from behind as that was the view they always had of him. Then again, he was easily overlooked, so he supposed he shouldn't have been really all that surprised.

"Hello? Are you still there?" Atem asked after a few moments of silence. Yugi looked over at the clock to see it read 5:59 pm. No way was he missing out on steak just cause this possessive person wanted to stand outside his door. In fact, he should be taught a lesson on why one shouldn't stand outside a door that swings _outwards_.

Yugi grasped the handle and opened it sharply. "Oh!" A cry of pain sounded on the other side. Yugi poked his head out of the door, and saw Malik and Ryou walk past quickly muffling their laughter in their hands. "Aw, did I hit you?" Yugi asked looking up at him as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Blood was trickling slowly out of it. "I didn't realize you were leaning up against the door. As for your request, denied." Atem was giving him a look of both great disdain and dislike. He nodded once, slowly, before turning and walking out still pinching the bridge of his nose.

The female poked her head out into the hallway, and looked at the door before looking back at him. "Yugi, what happened to Atem's nose?"

"I accidentally hit him with my door," he widened his eyes ever so slightly it wasn't even noticeable if you didn't know to look for it. "I didn't realize he was standing so close."

"Oh!" she put her hand to her cheek, "well I hope you apologized."

"Of course I did."

"Oh, that's wonderful, you're already making friends." Yugi had the urge to raise an eyebrow at her, but it would ruin his façade and instead kept silent, his face passive. "Well, come, dinner is ready," She said motioning him forward. Yugi walked into the kitchen to find it actually very large. There were cabinets made of cherry wood, a silver double stove, one of those new fancy fridges, two dishwashers, two sinks with one being smaller than the other, an island, and lots of open counter space. He took this all in in 30 seconds, before sliding into the only open chair. It just happened to be between both Ryou and Malik.

They all started to hold hands like they were going to say grace or something. He was right, they started to chant something right out of the catholic bible. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to join in though, just hold his classmates hands, they stopped trying to get him to and just finished the prayer before they all started to dig in. It was near the middle of the meal that Ryou and Malik hit him with some startling news.

"Hey, we've made a decision," Ryou whispered in his ear.

"About what?"

"About us hanging out with you tomorrow at school," Malik answered. Yugi immediately started to choke on the milk he had been swallowing. Ryou gasped, and started to pat his back trying to get him to breath normally again.

"What?" he asked as soon as he could talk and breathe semi-normally.

"Well, you see Yugi, they have bully problems," the female said sadly.

That got his attention as he straightened up slightly. "Who?"

"Akeifa, and Marik."

"Oh, well you should hear them _gush_ about you when you're not around. It's actually quite annoying listening to them go on and on about you two while we're warming up on the track. You know that Akeifa and Marik do the high jump right? 'They're so cute, they're so adorable, why won't they give us the time of day?'"

"You're lying," Ryou said first.

"You know I wish I was, because it really puts a dent in their image. I don't know why you think they're bullies, they're really just a bunch of softies. All of them."

"All of them?" Malik questioned.

"Yep, Yami tears up and Atem turns to a pile of goo," Yugi said standing up. "Well, that's as much family time as I can handle, so I think I'll be turning in for the night." He walked over to the large sink and rinsed off his dishes. He found the right dishwasher and put them into it. He walked out then, and back to his room.

He grabbed the chair from the desk and was about to put it under the handle of the door, before realizing that would be pointless. What was he doing anyway? Was he really going to run out on them on the first night? They had been nothing but nice to his rude attitude. He sighed flopping down on the chair and facing the door. He supposed he could give them a chance, a small one. He still didn't trust them not to dump him at first possible opportunity though. So he got up and dragged the chair back over to the desk and started to unpack. He hadn't done that since he was 14.

He found his homework, crumpled up at the bottom of his bag. Now, while he may not have been the most sociable person, he did have perfect grades. And he supposed not having a social life helped with that. Still though, if his grades fell than he would be kicked off the track team. Running was his life, literally, so that clearly wasn't an option. He put it on the desk and smoothed it out.

He heard the door creak open behind him, but didn't bother looking over his shoulder. He heard a sigh, it sounded like the female's, before the door was closed again. He finished checking over his last problem of pre-calc, and sat back in the chair. Parents usually only checked up on him once, so he figured it would be alright to go out for a late night run, and since the window didn't have a screen…

"Hah. Hah. Hah. Hah. Hah. Hah." Yugi was leaning up against a tree. He should have brought that water bottle with him. He had run up and down this trail three times already, it wasn't very long. Well, not long enough for him anyway.

He heard someone coming up in the dark behind him. He waited until they were almost even with him, before swinging his arm back. His wrist was caught in a steel grip, and a light clicked on illuminating his face. Yugi shied away from the bright light, not at all liking being illuminated like that.

"You have some pretty fast reflexes," Atem said.

"So do you," Yugi replied.

"What are you doing out here?" Atem asked.

Yugi jammed his elbow back into his gut, and Atem released his wrist. "Running, what's it look like I'm doing?"

"Injuring me again," he rasped out holding his side.

"Well, that's your own fault." Yugi replied pushing off of the tree. "You were the one leaning against my door, and wouldn't let me go."

He stood up straight again, "you could've asked."

"Not my forte."

"So, my boyfriend seems to find you _cute_. Personally, I don't see it."

"Good, let's keep it that way."

"I mean you're rude, violent, volatile, sarcastic, and did I mention _rude_?"

"Yeah, at the beginning." Yugi looked down at his watch and turned on the light for it. It was going on one, he should be getting back. "Well, I better be heading back home. Let's make a pact to avoid each other from now on." Yugi didn't even give him a chance to answer before he was shaking his hand and running off.

Well, that was taken care of. He didn't need to worry about the possessive clone anymore. Sure they would see each other on the track tomorrow, but seeing as he never paid attention to him before, he didn't see how that would change. Yugi felt confident in the knowledge that his problems with the other were over as he climbed back into his open window. He took off his shoes and shirt and flopped down into the bed. Life was great for him, and nothing was going to change, nothing.

 **Please review. Midnight ;p**


	2. Everything changes

**I'm so happy you guys are enjoying it so far. I do not own Yugioh, enjoy!**

Chapter 2

"Why are still following me?" Yugi asked for the umpteenth time of his new and unwanted companions.

"We told you already, they don't scare you," Ryou answered.

"Right, so if we stick next to you they'll leave us alone," Malik added.

"More likely that they just won't notice you," Yugi mumbled.

"Why's that?"

"I seem to have a bubble around me that says I don't actually exist, so don't look at me."

"Cool! We're not going to be noticed, Ryou."

"I know, that's aweso-"

"There you are! Geez, we've been looking for you everywhere." Marik said coming around the corner with Akeifa, Atem and Yami. How he didn't notice them the first five times he passed by was beyond Yugi.

Yami bounded up to him, "so how're you liking your first day at our school?" he asked cheerfully.

He turned on Ryou and Malik. "Thanks, I was perfectly happy being invisible and just gliding through High School. Now, I've been noticed. That's just peachy!" he shoved Yami into a locker and stormed past and into his classroom. Teachers traveled from class to class, they stayed put.

"Uh, it's not his first day. He's been attending all the same schools as us since elementary," he heard Ryou say to Yami.

"Really?" he heard the other four question in incredulous surprise. He rolled his eyes and moved out of the doorway and to his seat. He sat in the very back of the classroom right next to the window. It's where he had been sitting since grade school, so it was kind of like his spot.

Ryou and Malik filed into the room, and he could swear he saw them muttering bakas. He agreed with that statement, if in fact it had been made, they were bakas. Atem, Akeifa, and Marik came in scratching their heads. Yami however bounded over to him again, and sat in his seat. The one in front of him, just like it had been for the past two years. He grinned sheepishly at him, and Yugi just rolled his eyes choosing to look out the window instead.

"Sorry, I guess you're just so quiet I never noticed you before."

"Good, than let's get back to that. I prefer not to be noticed, so if you could just pretend that you never saw me in the first place, that would be fantastic," Yugi shot back leaning backwards in his chair.

"But I think we could be really good friends!" Yami said excitedly standing up.

"And I think you're smoking something. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not really the friendly type."

"Sennen, sit down, turn around and pay attention. Class has begun." Karu Sensei said coming into the room.

"Yeah, Sennen, turn around and sit," Yugi said twirling his finger at him smirking.

"Hey, kid in the back, stop being an instigator."

Yugi smiled at that. Not even the teachers, well most of them, knew who he was. He truly was invisible, not to mention they could never give him a detention. They didn't know his name, so they couldn't give detention to that kid in the back corner with the oddly colored hair. One had actually tried that, and had gotten every kid with oddly colored hair rounded up and put in detention. Not him though, the teachers just breezed right by him, as if he wasn't even there. He loved High School, it provided unlimited amounts of entertainment. Yugi smiled.

"Kid in the back corner, what's the answer?" Karu Sensei asked.

Yugi glanced at the board, and then looked away again. "Six over pi squared." He heard her huff in frustration, and he just smirked. That was the only annoying thing though, they always tried to catch him off guard. Tried to get him to answer wrong. It was always fruitless though, so he didn't know why they still tried. Yep, just another ordinary day in High School.

[Time skip]

"Get away from me you creep!" Yugi shouted at Yami throwing a punch at him which Atem caught. Did he say ordinary? He meant _most_ _annoying_ _ever_.

"Now, now, there's no need for that. He simply asked if you wanted to join us for lunch."

"I don't eat lunch. I run." Yugi spat back pushing him away by using the fist he was grasping.

"Where?"

"On the track."

"Oh, we'll join you!" Yami said cheerfully.

Yugi whipped around, "No, you won't. I want to be left alone, what part of this don't you seem to understand? Just go back to your happy little lives before you even knew I existed. I like being alone, so leave me there." He turned back around and started to walk off.

"No one likes to be alone," Atem said calmly from behind him.

"Well, that's where you're wrong. I _relish_ in it."

"Come on, Yami."

"But- he- I-"

"No, come. We need to think of a different approach other than overly cheerful."

"How about the one where you just don't approach me at all?" Yugi suggested loudly as he continued to walk away. They didn't respond and he just shrugged as he continued to search the school for his…brothers. They weren't friends, weren't enemies, so what else was he supposed to call them. Hey you, sounded like a good idea, but he wasn't sure if they would actually respond to it. Anyway, he needed to find them, he thought that _maybe_ he could tolerate them. And seeing as they were gonna be living together for a couple of weeks, at the very least, he was going to have to learn how to anyway. Why not start now?

Just like he predicted, they were being harassed by Akeifa and Marik. He decided to intervene. "Why don't you just punch them? That'll get them to leave you alone." Ryou and Malik turned to look at him, before hiding behind him. Bunch of pussies. Akeifa and Marik scowled at him, and charged. He raised an eyebrow at them, and reached up latching onto a tree branch above him. He swung his feet out right at their chests, and sent them crashing back onto the ground. They didn't get back up. Yugi let go, landing back on the ground, he scoffed, how pathetic one hit and they were down.

He turned to Ryou and Malik who were looking at Akeifa and Marik in surprise. It was actually kind of cute, their bottom lips jutted out slightly, making Yugi want to take them between his own and suck on them a little. He shook the thought from his mind as he swung his arms around their shoulders.

"Let's go."

"But…are they going to be alright?"

"Eventually, once their pride has some time to grasp what just happened to them. However, you're going to be my new project. I'm going to toughen you guys up, and by the time I'm done you'll never want me near you again." Yugi promised with a smirk.

"I'm not sure that's a good thing," Ryou said uneasily.

"Heh," he shoved Ryou up against a school wall and held him there using his body. Ryou was so tense, Yugi could feel him trembling slightly. He flicked one of his white locks away from his face, and leaned in towards him slightly. He wasn't going to do anything, just press their foreheads together, Ryou hardly knew that. Ryou pressed himself into the wall as much as he could, it made Yugi pause and pull back. "Do you even like men?" he asked looking him in the eye. Ryou shook his head so much it kind of looked like one of those bobble heads. He looked over his shoulder at Malik, "Do you?"

"Have you ever seen the Goddess Anzu Mazaki?" he asked with a dreamy look on his face. Yugi gagged back at him. "I didn't ask if you liked her!"

"Have you seen how much make-up she wears?" Yugi asked pulling away from Ryou who sighed loudly in relief.

"It's not that much!"

"It's caked on!"

"What about Mai Valentine, what do you think of her?" Ryou asked.

"As long as she doesn't start singing around me, I can handle her."

"But she has the voice of an angel."

"She sounds like nails on a chalk board."

"No, that's the voice of an angel."

Yugi looked at the two of them fantasizing about the girls they liked. "No wonder they say love is blind."

"Is it your solo mission to injure all of us?"

Yugi looked over at Atem, who had somehow snuck up on him. He was standing next to him, looking at Ryou and Malik with a 'what the hell' look on his face. Yugi kicked his legs out from under him sending him flat on his back. "No, just you." Atem looked up at him with a grimace, as Yugi just looked away a smirk the most prominent thing on his face.

"I'm sure he didn't mean it," Yami cooed from somewhere behind him.

"He kicked us in the chest! How can you _not_ mean something like that?" Akeifa yelled back.

"I'm sure it was an accident," Yami tried.

"Oh no," Yugi turned around, "that wasn't an accident. I totally meant it."

"See! See!" Marik said pointing at him.

"I can be a very violent person, the sooner you accept this the more likely you are to leave me alone."

"I'm still not seeing this cuteness you keep speaking of, Yami. If anything, he's just becoming hotter by the second."

Yugi huffed at that, grabbed his two love dazed…brothers, and marched off. He dragged them back to their classroom and sat them in their seats. He sat in his, and slammed his head against the desk a couple of times. This day was not going at all like he expected it to. It was just going from bad to worse.

"You're going to get brain damage if you keep that up."

"Good, then I won't have to deal with you anymore."

Fingers tangled themselves into his hair pulling his head up. He had a blurry image of someone's hair before lips planted themselves on his. Yugi's eyes widened before he lashed out, punching the one kissing him across the eye. They went down without a fight, and Yugi jumped on top of them, grabbing their collar and pulling back his fist to hit them again. Arms surrounded his shoulders and waist, pulling him off of them. It was only then that he noticed it was Atem.

"Let me go!" Yugi screamed attacking his restrainers, breaking free and stalking towards him again as he backed away. There was fear in his eyes as Yugi pulled back his fist again, and hit him across the jaw. More hands grabbed him, larger hands. They pulled him back from Atem, holding his arms at his sides, and forcing him to his knees. It didn't last long though, as he again lashed out and broke away from them. Yami was kneeling beside Atem now as Yugi came after him. Atem pushed Yami away and met Yugi head on. He dodged Atem's fist and punched him in the gut, twice. The teachers showed up then, and pulled them apart. Where others couldn't hold Yugi, they did, but it took five of them to do so.

They were both brought to Principal Umeda's office. Yugi jerked his arm out of one of the teacher's grip and sat, well more of flounced, down in one of the chairs. Atem was given an ice pack and he sat down too.

"Mr. Mutou, good to see you again," Umeda said glancing up at the two of them.

"It's Kodai actually," Atem said.

"Oh, I don't care about you. You probably started it. Yugi here, Akiha and I have a special name for him, the finisher. While others start the fights, he usually finishes them."

"Yeah, he did actually. He kissed me, and thought I was going to roll over like some lap dog and let him. Baka," Yugi said shifting in his chair so he was facing away from Atem.

"Well, it worked on my boyfriend. He kissed back, he didn't punch me."

"Didn't I tell you I'm a violent person? Seriously, the sooner you learn that the better off you'll be."

"Whatever, Yami is still determined to be your friend."

"Not. Happening. Lost. Cause."

"I'll make sure to pass on the message. Are we done here?"

"No, you're suspended from the next track meet, and I want the two of you to stay away from each other for the next two weeks."

"Good for me," Yugi said getting up and leaving. He knew Umeda wouldn't call his home, what was the point? He'd just be in another fight in a couple of days. He did stop by the infirmary for a minute to get his hand checked over though. He just bruised the knuckles, nothing serious, and then he went back to class.

The teacher paused in her lecture before going back to what she was doing. Yugi sat in his seat, and looked out the window. He felt eyes drilling into the side of his face, and the back of his head. He told them to ignore him did he not? It wasn't his fault they suddenly found an interest in him. Geez, what was it? Notice the short kid in the back of the classroom day? He sure felt like it was.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully, and before he knew it he was making his way down to the track field. He stopped by the locker room and put on his track uniform, and then went out to the field. Like always he was the first one there, and so he started to stretch before taking an early lap around the track. By the time he came back around to the front most of the others had arrived, including the ones that had been annoying him all day.

"You're here too?" Atem asked rudely.

"Is that a problem?" Yugi countered.

 _Fweeeet!_

"Mutou! Kodai! Separate!" their Coach, Penny, yelled.

Yugi threw a smirk at Atem before walking past him. Penny ordered everyone who hadn't already stretched to do so, and then to line up. Yugi of course was already lined up, on the outer ring like usual. It didn't matter where he placed, he always liked running the outer ring. It seemed to him like he was getting a better run, even though he knew they were really all the same size.

He always ran the mile, or 500 meter dash. He was too good in everything else. So Penny always had him running those two. Everyone was seeing the back of his shirt, number 18, and that was the way it was going to stay.

"Alright, today I want to do something different. I want all of you to run at your fastest speed. I want to time that speed. So I'm going to need you guys to put on these anklets, and when you pass this little red light on the fourth time, it'll record your time." everyone did so, and then got back on their lines. "Right, get set, go!" _Fweeeet!_

Yugi took off, the wind was rushing through his hair. It was just him and his line as he ran at his very best, making sure to go fast but keep a steady pace at the same time. He passed up everyone else, twice, before he made the fourth lap. He slowed down to an easy walk, before he stopped altogether, and bent over resting his hands on his knees as he breathed heavily.

Others soon came to join him, trying to get their breathing back to normal too. Yugi stood up once he had his under control, and walked towards Penny. He passed Atem and Yami on his way, and heard a little of their conversation.

"I told you that run looked familiar. Why didn't they suspend _him_ from the next track meet?"

"Because I'm actually an asset to the team," Yugi jeered as he passed. Atem lunged at him, but Yugi dodged him, by taking a step back making Atem land flat on his face. He chuckled as he used Atem as a stepping stone.

"Mutou! Kodai! Don't make me tell you again to separate!" Penny yelled.

"Don't let him get to you," Yami said behind him.

"Too late for that piece of advice," Atem said sounding as if he was smiling.

"Here, Coach." Yugi handed her his anklet, she stared at it before showing it to him. 5.30.45 glared back at him in green light. He jumped up and shouted. He broke his previous record of 5.45.59. They had to let him into the Olympics, they just _had_ too.

"Do you think the scouts for the Olympics will take me?"

"They'd be fools not to take a troublemaker like you off our hands."

"Oh come on, I'm not that bad."

"Bad enough that Umeda himself said he'd call the scouts out here."

"It doesn't matter to me who calls, just so long as they come!" Yugi said excitedly giving her a hug before he realized what he was doing. He pulled away, blushing, and rushed over to one of the benches where he sat down.

Penny was swarmed by the rest of the team then, as they all clamored to show her their times. She looked at ten, well the top ten, before pushing them aside and coming to sit down by him. Yugi ignored her at first, but it's hard to ignore someone when they insist on poking you in the arm.

"Would you cut that out?" he asked smacking her hand away.

"Talk to me. Why didn't you just go limp like we agreed?" she asked leaning back against the bleacher above them, crossing her arms over her chest. Penny wasn't just the Coach of the track team, she was the student counselor too.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"I just got so angry when he kissed me," Yugi said his eyes finding the other teen in question without his permission. As if sensing eyes on him though, Atem looked up to meet his gaze. "And scared," he added, "I don't know why, but I felt the need to do something more than just defend myself. I felt the need to make sure he would never try it again." He pulled his eyes away from Atem and looked back at Penny.

"What made you scared?"

"I don't know."

"Take a guess."

"I guess…it was his thought that he had the right to kiss me? Or maybe it was the action of his lips on mine? I don't know. I've always been disgusted by such things."

"I know." She whispered placing a hand on his shoulder and rubbing it.

"Maybe my parents were prostitutes."

Penny smiled sadly at him, "maybe."

After that, she had them do a few more exercises, and then sent them back to the locker rooms. Most of the team stripped down and headed to the showers. Not Yugi though, he sat down on the benches and leaned against the wall fully clothed. He'd learned back in Middle School that he couldn't shower around others. It had been a hard lesson to learn too.

He had undressed with the rest of them, and headed into the showers first. The others followed shortly after. They all had had towels wrapped around their waists, but it was after removing those pieces of cotton when the complications had started. There had been about six or seven of them comparing…sizes, and Yugi started to get sick, literally. He dropped down to his hands and knees and started to vomit right there in the showers.

They had had to get everyone out, and sanitize the entire area. After that it was agreed that Yugi didn't take showers with anyone else anymore. That he just waited until everyone else was done. It had been something he had agreed with too willingly.

At first people teased him about being a homophobe. He shut them up quickly though, using his fists instead of his words. That was how the Principals of the schools really grew acquainted with him. He was in their offices once a week, twice sometimes, how could they not learn his name?

Someone plopped down next to him, breaking him from his thoughts. It was Atem, you'd think, after the beating he had gotten from him he would leave him alone, but no. It seemed this one was even more idiotic than any other person he'd ever faced before.

"What were you and Penny talking about?"

"The best place to hide your body after you were dead."

Atem smiled slightly, "Okay. Let me know when you've figured it out. I'll meet you there to save you the trouble of having to drag my dead weight of a body." He got up and started to walk away.

Yugi let out a little laugh. Atem stopped and turned to look back at him. Yami came over and tugged on his arm. He blindly followed him into the showers. He stood up and grabbed his clothes out of his locker, stuffing them into his bag. He would take a shower back at the…the…what was their last name again? Aw, he couldn't remember. Not that it mattered anyway. He'd be out of that house soon, just like all the others.

 **Yeah, uh, redconvoy, not for awhile yet. Like we'll be 3/4 done before we get to that point. Not much romance in this, at all. I suppose that's a warning for everybody really. There won't be very much romance in this story, so expect very little. Thank you to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Also, thanks to everyone who have/are favorited/followed this story. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	3. New rules, ideas, and disciplines

**So here's the next chapter. I do not own Yugioh, or RED. Enjoy!**

Chapter 3

Yugi walked into the house and was met with the female. She looked angry and had her hands on her hips, and a wooden spoon in her hand. It had some type of white…thing on it, Yugi wasn't sure if he wanted to know what it was.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Is it true you got into a fight today? And with the Kodai's son no less? I go to book club with his Mother you know."

"Really? What do you read? Some romance crap novel that you know will never happen in your boring subdivision lives?"

"Not that far off actually," the male said coming down the stairs.

"I expect you to go apologize to him, right now!" the female demanded.

"Pfft! Fat chance of that! I'm not apologizing for defending my dignity." He scoffed moving past her.

"Back me up!"

"Look, Yugi, can we agree on a simple term?"

"No."

"You haven't even heard it yet!"

"Don't want to."

"Ugh, you really are a handful."

"So send me back!" Yugi yelled.

"No." he responded firmly a hard edge in his voice. "Can you at least promise not to get into any fights with the kids in _this_ neighborhood? My wife isn't likely to hear about it that way." The male begged as Yugi stood in the doorway of his room.

"No, I can't. If someone attacks me like… _that_ , I'm going to lay into them. I'm gonna teach them to never come near me again."

"How did he attack you?"

"He kissed me!"

"He did _what_?" the male asked in anger, his hands curling into fists at his side.

"I…don't worry about it. I already took care of it." Yugi waved him off and slammed the door to his room.

He slid down the door and tilted his head against it. He gripped his shoulders, blunt fingernails digging into them. Why had that bothered him so much? It was just a kiss. But it had made him really angry, and…and scared. But why? What had frightened him so? What was so scary about a…a kiss?

"Mr. Mutou, I don't care if he danced naked on your Mother's grave, you go over there and apologize to him this instance!" the female shouted through the door.

He yanked open the door. "I don't even remember my Mother," he muttered as he pushed past her and out the front door. He stopped on the bottom step of the front porch and headed back in. "Which number is his?" he asked sticking only his head in the door.

"Number 2678," the female answered biting her lip.

"Right."

He started to walk down the sidewalk, hands shoved deep into his pockets. 2689, 2691, 2693…wait, the numbers were going up. He was headed in the wrong direction. He shook his head and headed in the opposite direction. He bounded up the steps and paused for a second before pounding on the door with his fist three times.

"Who is it?" a voice asked.

"The devil in disguise," Yugi answered.

The door swung open revealing an older man. "What kind of-Mutou." It wasn't a question, but a statement of recognition.

Yugi blinked, before throwing back his head laughing. "Of course, you would be his Father. Kodai, I wonder why I didn't connect the name before."

"Yugi? What are you doing here?" Atem asked coming up to stand beside his Father.

"Apparently I need to apologize for you kissing me and acting violently to such _affections_."

"Eh, it was worth it. You taste good," Atem said licking his lips.

"Yeah, and you tasted like beer. Probably one of the reasons why I didn't enjoy it." Yugi shrugged.

Atem's jaw flapped as he looked over at his Father. He looked like a goldfish. Mr. Kodai looked livid as he sent daggers back at his son. Yugi saw a lithe figure move into the hallway from one the rooms, he assumed the kitchen. He put a mask on his face of deep regret, he knew the men wouldn't buy this, but the lady? Oh, too easy. Atem opened his mouth to say something, but Yugi beat him to it.

"I really am sorry, Atem," Yugi started putting on his best regret face. Both men turned to him, with looks of disbelief and confusion written as plain as day on their faces. "Maybe tomorrow, we can work this whole thing out at school. And, maybe we can even become friends." His face lit up with just the right touch of brightness here. "I'd really like that. Well, I'll see you tomorrow, bye!" he waved with a big grin and walked out of view of the woman of the household. When he was far enough away, he turned back around and threw a devious smirk right at Atem.

"I'm so lost," he saw Atem mouth.

"You're Mother and my Wife is right behind us. I can smell her perfume," Mr. Kodai said back.

"Ah. So it was all…?"

"Yep. He's really good at that."

"Wonderful," Atem appeared to sigh before they both vanished into the house.

Yugi grinned, whistling a short nonsensical tune as he walked away. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going so therefore it was no surprise when he crashed right into another person. Both fell to the ground, one holding their head, and the other their shoulder. Yugi looked up at them, still grasping his head. A smirk crossed his face almost immediately upon recognizing the person.

"Hello, Sennen, off to the boyfriends?"

"Yeah," he said nodding as he stood up. He offered a hand out to Yugi, but he just smacked it aside and stood up by himself.

"Heh heh, good luck. I expect he'll be grounded very soon. But then again, you can always sneak in through one of the downstairs windows, right?"

"What do you mean?" Yami asked tilting his head to the side slightly in confusion.

"Never mind," Yugi shook his head and moved past him.

"Hey, wait! Why do you always have to be so mean?" Yami asked rushing after him. He didn't try to grab him, but instead just kept up with the casual pace that had been set.

"Why do you have to be so nice?" Yugi countered.

"Because my Mother taught me that kindness gets you a lot further than animosity does."

"Well isn't she just full of all kinds of nonsense."

"She is not!"

"Really? Well if your Mother's theory was true, I'd have been adopted long ago."

"You were nice once?"

"Go to hell," Yugi ground out walking slightly faster.

"You know I have a theory about this tough guy's thing of yours," Yami said hurrying after him completely undeterred by his foul tongue.

Yugi stopped and turned to him, "really?"

"Yeah, I think it's an act you put on to keep people away and out."

"Well, it's not working very well, now is it?"

"I don't understand, what isn't?"

Yugi clenched his fists, imprinting half-moons into his plans. He really wished there was a wall nearby where he could hit his head against it, repeatedly. This had to the biggest idiot the world had ever produced on the planet. And it was just his luck that it wanted to be friends with _him_. He didn't want any though, he was better off on his own. Yugi opened his mouth to explain in _very_ _simple_ terms what he meant, but was saved the trouble by clone number twos arrival.

"Yami! There you are! My Mum was worried when you didn't show up at the usual time. She sent me out to look for you."

"Aww, they didn't ground you? What a shame."

Atem glared down at him, while wrapping an arm around his boyfriend and tugging him to his side. "I'm grounded for two weeks because of you."

"Excellent. That means I'll be seeing even less of you."

"Atem," Yami sighed.

"Yes?"

"I told Yugi that I thought his tough guy thing was an act to keep people out and away. Then he responded by saying that it wasn't working very well. What did he mean?"

"Uh…" Atem scrunched up his face as if trying to find the best way to explain it without insulting his intelligence. Yugi, however, wasn't as generous.

"You're a complete idiot. Ya'll follow me around constantly as of late. That's how it's not working very well. You won't leave me alone!"

"Gee, Mutou, could you have put that, I don't know, any _nicer_?"

"Probably, I just didn't feel like it."

"You think I'm an idiot?" Yami asked with a hurt face.

"No, of course not," Yugi said with a false grin. Yami looked happy for a second, until Yugi finished his sentence that was, "I think you're a _complete_ idiot." He looked so hurt, Yugi felt a twinge of guilt, but it was quickly brushed aside at the murderous look on Atem's face.

"Don't listen to the loner, Yami. You're brilliant, and my opinion is the only one that should matter."

"I don't know, I am kind of slow," Yami looked down at his feet with a dejected look.

"Grow up, Yami," Yugi sneered. "The world isn't a pretty place full of rainbows and unicorns. It's a cruel harsh world, and anyone who tells you otherwise is either high or close to death."

He turned then and walked away. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets again. Dang, why did seeing Yami look so defeated bother him like that. And knowing this neighborhood, his Mum would probably complain to the female, and she would demand another apology out of him. Another bullshit apology. Yugi yelled in aggravation, kicking an innocent stone down the sidewalk. He marched up the steps of his temp home and stormed inside to his room. He grabbed his iPod, said he'd be back later, and ran off.

He ran without looking, letting his feet carry him wherever they thought he needed to be. Oddly enough, he ended up near a hole in the fence onto the school grounds. He snuck inside and went to the track field. The football players were out on the field, but that didn't bother Yugi. He just popped in his head phones, flipped to Falling Sky by Red, put it on repeat, and ran in circles on the track.

A hand grasped his shoulder and he lashed out. His wrist was clutched in a firm grip before it could reach its target, and one of his headphones was yanked out of his ear. Mr. Kodai, Officer George Kodai, let go of his wrist and motioned over to the bleachers. Yugi sighed, following him over to sit down next to him.

"One day. That's got to be a new record for you," he sighed out rubbing his forehead.

"I told them I'd be back. It wasn't just like I ran out on them," Yugi defended.

Mr. Kodai nodded, "this is true. Do you want to talk about it?"

Yugi looked over at him with wary eyes. He hadn't been in confidence with this man since he was well, 11. Share his thoughts with him? No he didn't think so. He shook his head, drawing his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them, and placing his cheek upon one of them.

"Okay, then will you at least go see Penny tomorrow?" he asked softly. Yugi nodded, he could do that. "Alright, let me give you a lift home," he said standing up.

"I don't have one," Yugi muttered.

"Then let me give you a ride to your temp home."

"I can run."

"Yugi…"

"Yeah, alright."

Yugi stood up and followed Mr. Kodai out and back to his silver Honda Civic. He climbed into the passenger seat, and waited for him to start the car, and drive the three short blocks to his temp home. His new prison of rules, ideas, and disciplines.

The car stopped and Yugi reluctantly got out, bounding up the steps and through the front door. Arms wrapped around him, holding him close to another's body. Yugi went rigged for a moment, before freaking out. He landed one heated and heavy blow into their side, before he was being held back, as he panted heavily.

The female crashed to the ground, pitifully holding her side as she curled up into a fetal position. Ryou was holding him back from behind and Malik was in front of him, grasping his shoulders. He was saying something, and Yugi cut his eyes to him, trying to distinguish what he was coming out of his mouth.

"No one's gonna hurt you. You're safe here. This is a safe place." Over and over again he said it, like an old mantra that had been driven into his head. Yugi started to relax, not believing the words, but found them soothing none the less. Ryou hesitantly let him go, and when it became apparent that he wasn't going to make another go for the female, he released him entirely. Malik took his hands off his shoulders, still repeating those three sentences over and over again.

"Mira, sometimes you can be just a little naïve," the male said helping his wife up into a sitting position. "The Director told you not to touch him until he told you he trusted us. Now it's going to take him even longer to do that."

"I'm sorry, Dilan," Mira sniffed. "I was just so relieved when I saw him come through that door, that I didn't even think, I just reacted."

"I know," he lifted her up into his arms effortlessly. "It's just the true Mother in you coming through."

"I'm sorry," Yugi said clearly. Silence.

"Huh?" Malik asked.

"I won't repeat myself. I just don't handle physical affection well. I never have, and doubt I will ever know why," Yugi explained before gently pushing past Malik and walking into his room. He fell face forward onto the bed, almost immediately succumbing to sleep from both the mental and physical exhaustion of the day.

[Time skip]

Yugi sat, arms folded across his chest, outside of Penny's office as he waited for her to show up. This morning's breakfast conversation still replaying in his mind. He shook his head, trying to dislodge it, but it just wouldn't go away.

"Yugi?" Penny's surprised voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "This is a bit early for you, isn't it?" she asked as she opened her office. Yugi darted inside quickly and sat in one of the beanbag chairs. "Okay, what's on your mind?" she chuckled as she shut her door and went to sit on the other beanbag chair.

"Well, it started last night when the female forced me to apologize to Kodai. He kissed me! He assaulted me! And I was the one who had to apologize to _him_!"

"The female I assume is Mira?"

"Yeah," Yugi nodded.

"Okay and what happened after that?"

"Well, I gave an outstanding performance of it, and walked off where I bumped into Sennen. I just wanted to get away from him, but he insisted on following me. Then he said something about my tough guy thing being an act to keep people away. I said it wasn't working very well, and he asked me what I meant."

"Did you tell him?"

"Yeah, but for some reason I feel bad about it. That's never happened before."

"What exactly did you feel bad about?"

"Calling him a complete idiot."

"Do you think if maybe you apologized the guilty feeling would go away?"

"Well, I was going to this morning, but the brat went and whined to his Mother."

"How do you know that?"

"Because his Mother called the female to complain about it."

"I see, and is it because of your guilty feelings towards Sennen that drove you to run away last night?"

"I didn't run away," he shifted uncomfortably, "I just didn't tell anyone where I was going."

"Did _you_ know where you were going?" Penny asked.

Yugi shook his head, "no."

"Okay, is there anything else?"

"Well, as soon as I walked in the door the female hugged me, and I punched her. I didn't even think, I just acted on it."

Penny let out a heavy sigh. "And how is she?"

"She'll…" he trailed off for a couple of moments, trying to find the words. "She'll have a dark bruise for a couple of days." He put his head into his hands. "I sincerely apologized for that."

"Do you think you could do the same for Sennen?"

"No, there's too much pressure now to actually mean it."

"Okay, was there anything else you wanted to get out?"

"Yeah, how do you tell someone you were playing them for a fool? Also, that every word you said was pure bullshit?"

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"Well, I fed Kodai's Mom a huge helping of bullshit, and now she's invited us over for a barbecue tonight to encourage a make believe friendship."

"With her son I presume?"

"Yep!"

"Don't, just put on one of your infamous acts, and let her continue to believe what she wants."

"Lead her on you mean?"

"Precisely."

"That's too much work. I'd rather just tell her she's a fool and get it over with."

"It's your life, but trust me, you don't want that woman as your enemy. Just play along until you can find a moment to break free."

"Or I make a moment to. I'm the King of Bullshit. When I'm through, Kodai won't come within thirty feet of me. Thanks Penny! You're the best!"

She watched him get up and strut out of her room. She sighed, putting her head in her hand. "That poor boy, he'll have no idea what he did wrong."

 **Questions? None. Okay, that was easy. The next chapter of mmml is coming along, but I'm not going to give any details away on it. Just trying to keep you guys updated is all. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	4. His past

**Toolazytologin, wish granted. Though...I was planning on updating today anyway. I do not own Yugioh or any of the songs used in this fic. Enjoy!**

Chapter 4

Yugi sat in the back of another classroom. Another boring day of lessons. His eyes slid to the side to stare out the window. He could see the track field from here, with the sitting pretty subdivisions behind it. It was the forests in the farthest reaches of his view though, that really grabbed at his attention.

How he longed to just lose himself in those woods and never come back. To escape to a world where he answered to no one, and had no fears. To go back to three years ago when he had no one to turn to, and no one was there for him. Back to when he- Fingers appeared in front of his face, and snapped once. Yugi jumped back, looking around at the empty classroom.

"Are you planning on heading to lunch, or do you want to stay here all day?" Atem asked from above him.

Yugi rolled his eyes, and grabbed his book bag off of his chair. "Whatever," he muttered shoving past him.

"Hey, Yugi, wait!"

"Aren't you supposed to leave me alone?"

He grabbed Yugi's arm, pulling him to a stop, "Can we please just talk?"

"Don't touch me," Yugi snarled yanking his arm out of his grip.

"Look, you and I both know you sold my Mom bullshit, and she bought it, _all_ of it. Your Mom has already accepted the invite, so you don't have a choice but to show up tonight. Just-"

"She's not my Mom," he sneered. "She's simply the woman taking care of me at the moment, but she'll never be my parent. She'll give up, they always do."

"Well, don't you worry, because we won't," Atem said cheerfully slinging an arm around his shoulders.

Yugi slammed his elbow into his gut. He should've seen it coming and jumped out of the way, but he guessed that Atem just didn't know him that well yet. Ah well, he would learn, they always did.

[Time skip]

Yugi sat in the dark corner, by the shed of the Kodai's yard. Wow, did he feel uncomfortable. Somehow he had managed to avoid the parents, Mothers, and find this nice spot for him to just damage his eardrums in.

He would've taken off, but _some_ _people_ were standing right by the gate, and only exit, and he would've jumped over the fence, but it was too high. And someone with his hair style would be noticed instantly. So he settled for this dark corner, where he could blow up his headphones in his ears. Right now he was listening to My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark by Fallout Boy. As well as the rest of the cd that he had bought and then downloaded onto this IPod. The Director had bought him a laptop last year, after successfully alienating 16 families in two months' time, and getting straight A's, but that was a minor detail. They had taken a two months break from adoptions after that, it was something they had all needed at that point.

His headphone was pulled out of his ear as someone sat next to him. He didn't even need to open his eyes to know that it was Officer Kodai. Only he approached him, and had the courage to yank on his headphones. He knew his head wouldn't be bitten off, maybe chunks would be missing, but the vital organs would still be there.

"What are you listening to?" he asked fiddling with the earpiece.

"Fallout Boy."

"He's the one who sings Centuries, right?"

Yugi nodded.

"Who else do you listen to?"

"Red…Escape the Fate. If I'm feeling really sentimental, I turn on 12 Stones. Or some cover song."

"I've never heard of _those_ bands."

"They're not headliners, but they are great bands. They have a certain _taste_ to their sounds. What do you want?"

"I want you to join the party, but we both know that's probably not going to happen."

"No. So why even bother trying?"

"Hey! You found him!" an excited voice said. A _woman's_ voice said.

"Yes, Dear, I found him."

"Oh, this is wonderful, I'm going to introduce you to all the teenagers in the neighborhood!"

She was approaching quickly. The psycho enemy was almost upon him. He stood up quickly, grabbing his earpiece from Officer Kodai, and backing up, _fast_. "Gimme that! And get rid of your crazy wife!"

"My wife is not crazy! She's just…very energetic!"

Yugi gave him a disbelieving look, "she's nuts! I've had my fair fill of some of these kids of this neighborhood, and I have no desire to meet anymore."

"But you're already such good friends with my son! Overtime I know you'll be great friends with the rest of them."

"Listen, lady, I just said what you wanted to hear. It's called bullshit. Look it up, you'll probably find a picture of me next to the word."

"You! You're the one who insulted my son!" another woman shouted approaching him.

"You just had to reveal my hiding spot didn't you?" he asked looking down at Mr. Kodai.

"Sorry," he shrugged.

"I demand an apology for him immediately!"

"Look I've insulted a lot of people, you can't expect me to remember your son out all of them."

"That's Yami's Mother," Kodai Sr. whispered.

"Nope, still not apologizing. You brought your son up to believe that things like cute kittens, rainbows, and fairies actually exist. I was brought up that that is a state of mind. And the sooner this is accepted, the happier you'll be. So no, I won't be apologizing to him, or anyone in this godforsaken suburb. It's just not my style to be sincere, or eat honey. I prefer salt and vinegar." He sat back down, and put his headphone back in.

Someone sat down across from him, but he ignored them. Five minutes later and they were still sitting there, staring at him. He sighed and looked up at them. "What?"

"You're digging a grave here," Atem mouthed. Yami was leaning into his side that same hurt expression from last night still on his face.

"Good, let's make it deeper."

"You're making enemies. Enemies you won't want."

"Quite the contrary. I love enemies more than friends. Enemies will stab you in the back the same way a friend will, only you _expect_ it from them."

Yami looked up at Atem, and he just shrugged. Then he got up and left, Yami stayed though. Yugi nodded that he should join his boyfriend, but he just shook his head. They sat there staring at one another, until Yami crawled over to him and put his head on his shoulder. Yugi pushed him off, literally.

He sat back up, looking at him, "I want to be friends with you," he mouthed.

"I don't do friends," Yugi replied.

"You could try."

"No. Give up. The road you're travelling down is wasted energy, and leads to nowhere."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you want."

"Do you want to come and eat something?"

"No."

"But this party is for you and Atem. You have to eat something."

"No."

"Please?" he asked pulling on his arm slightly.

Yugi looked over at him. He debated his options, though they weren't many. He could continue to deny Yami what he wanted and have the kid pester him. Or he could pretend to give in, drop him off with the boyfriend, grab some food, and come back to his shady corner. The second option got rid of Yami much quicker! He turned off his music and pulled out his headphones.

"Okay!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, let's go!" he said standing up an offering a hand to him. Yami's face lit up as he grasped it, and was lifted up by Yugi.

He started to lead the way from the shed, looking for Atem as he went. He found him over by the drink table talking to Akeifa. He grinned, before rushing over to him, he gave no warning to his arrival.

"So, if anyone can break him down, it's Yami," Atem was saying with pure confidence. He drinking something from a red solo cup. Hm, made him think of the song. Red solo cup if fill you up. Let's have a party, proceed to par-he shook his head and made his presence known.

"More beer?" he asked looking up at him slightly.

He looked like had gasped, and tried to drink, whatever it was, at the same time. Well, in any case, he was choking now. Yugi just stood there watching, making no move to help. He waited until he was almost done before talking again.

"Well, I just came to drop off the annoying one. Ooo, ribs." He walked over to the buffet table and loaded a plate full of meat before turning to walk back to his hide away spot.

"You have to send him back!" someone shouted silencing the entire party.

"I will not Malina!" that was the female.

"He doesn't belong here! He's already injured several of our children!" another woman shouted.

"If they would just leave him alone like he's asked, they wouldn't have been hurt at all!" Mira shouted back. "Besides, they would attend the same school whether I sent him back or not. So really? Where's the point?"

"You get that little delinquent out of our neighborhood right now!" someone screamed. No, screeched would probably be the more appropriate word for what they just did.

"Wow, so melodramatic, Shauna," Atem's Mother, yes he recognized her, stepped up saying.

"You should care the most, Naomi!"

"Why? My son brought it upon himself. He shouldn't have kissed him. That is sexual assault, and as an Officer's wife, I hold my child doubly accountable to uphold all measures of the law."

"Wait, you mean I was grounded for my actions? Not because of _his_ words?" Atem asked pointing at Yugi who was still watching the whole thing. He wasn't sure if he should be amused or offended yet. He was feeling a bit of both actually.

"No, you were definitely grounded for that too."

"Oh," he nodded. "But you don't think I'd actually honestly _do_ something like that?"

"Can we please get back to the problem at hand?" Shauna demanded.

"Yes, we need to decide how to tame this…beast and turn him into the perfect gentleman. Just like the rest of your adopted young," another said.

Yugi threw back his head laughing. He staggered back slightly, handing his plate off to someone so he could clutch his sides. Oh they hurt! They hurt! He was laughing so hard. He collapsed to his knees, pounding his fist into the ground still laughing. That woman, she was so _funny_!

"What is so _funny_?"

"I think it's you Mrs. Dorobo. I think he finds you funny," the male answered. "I have to admit, I do too. You are aware that he's 17 right? The time for grooming is way over. The most we can do for him now is let him know that someone cares, and hope he gets into a good College."

"Yeah, like you're actually going to help me with that," Yugi chuckled standing back up slowly. "Penny and I have been working on a College plan since I was 14." He looked over at Officer Kodai, stared him straight in the eyes. "She's the only person I trust." Then he turned and took his food back from the person with a quiet thank you. They said he was welcome in a shocked voice. He nodded at Mira, and whispered to Dilan he'd be back at the temp home, before walking out.

Well, that didn't nearly go as planned, but hey it was something. Now over half of the suburb Madres wanted him history, and two wanted him to stay. Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Kodai were more perfectly matched than he had originally thought. He nodded as he chewed on a chicken leg, interesting. He stopped outside his temp home before going around the side and climbing in the window to his room. He didn't have a key yet, and he wondered when they would realize that. Oh well, not his problem.

He sat at his desk and worked on his homework while eating. When he had finished both tasks, eh yawned and turned back to face his room, nearly jumping out of his skin. His…brothers, were laying across his bed. How the hell did they even sneak up on him? Let alone into his room? Oh yeah, he'd left the window open, duh.

He got up to kick them out, only to see that they were sleeping there. Great! Now where was he supposed to sleep? He looked over at then again, poking Ryou's side. Just how light were his, uh, brothers? He licked his bottom lip before scooping Ryou up and easily throwing him over his shoulder. Like a feather.

He carried him into the living room and set him down on one of the couches. He went back into his room and did the same with Malik, though he was a little heavier than Ryou. He walked back into his room, shutting his door, before discarding his shirt and falling back onto his bed.

Geez, what a day. He didn't know if he could handle any more like these. He might just take off back to the Orphanage before the weekend even arrived. It wouldn't stop him from seeing he buffoons at school though, so where was the point? Besides, if he did that he would just be giving those other Mothers what they wanted. He had never tried to people please before, why on earth would he start now?

He growled in frustration, tugging at his hair. The front door banged open, and he heard a rush of feet. It was soon followed by a coo of relief. Curiosity getting the better of him, he got up to see what the fuss was all about.

The female was in the living room where he had dumped his…brothers combing her fingers through their hair. He leaned against the doorway, watching her, as the male just stood there, hands shoved deep into his pockets. He would have asked what was wrong, but it was only too obvious.

It looked like Ryou and Malik had taken off without telling anyone. Freaked out their parents, and scared them half to death. Now they were both relieved at finding their little boys safe and sound. As if they would ever be in any danger in this neighborhood. It was a picture perfect subdivision. Nothing ever went awry in them.

He turned and walked back to his room. He grabbed his iPod and quietly slipped from the house. It briefly occurred to him that perhaps he should tell them he was going for a run. Brushing off the thought though, he just went for the run anyway, turning on Escape the Fate's there's no sympathy for the dead.

He was half way up the trail when someone fell into step beside him. If he had been running at his normal pace, this would have been impossible. Since he was just jogging, he was easy to keep up with. He looked over, shocked, to see Mr. Freshall. He just shrugged it off though, and kept his pace. He wasn't being nice, just didn't feel the need to try to outrun him was all.

They ran up the trail and down the trail. Up the trail and down. Up and down. Up and down, up and down, up and down, up and do-oh wait, he stopped. Yugi jogged back to where the male had collapsed. He stood over him, his breathing even, the male's however was not. He was panting like a war horse fresh from battle. He squatted down next to him, chuckling, poking his side. He squirmed away from the prod.

"What's the matter? You're on the Police force aren't you? You don't have a desk job do you?"

"How…do you…know that?" he asked.

"I saw you once when I came to see Officer Kodai. When I was still young, and so naïve. It would have been hard for me not to remember that bleach blonde hair."

"It's natural," he said glaring up at him.

"Sure."

"It is! What are you even doing out here? Why didn't you say something before you left?"

"I wanted to run, and you both were busy."

"Yes, well after you left a huge argument broke out. Malik, Ryou, Marik, Akeifa, Atem, Yami, and Jason all got into their own argument. Malik, Ryou, and Yami all took off crying. Atem naturally went after his boyfriend. As for Malik and Ryou, no one could find them, so of course as their parents we freaked out."

"They climbed in through my bedroom window. I found them asleep on my bed," Yugi interrupted.

"So how did they end up in the living room?"

"You should really start putting some kind of mass on them. Anyone could just pick them up and walk off with them."

"Ha ha ha, they're that light, huh?"

"Indeed. Why are _you_ out here?"

"I was looking for you."

"Why bother?"

"Because we care about you."

"Pfft, that's bullshit. You can't care about someone you don't even know."

"Perhaps, if you had less walls we would be able to."

"Whatever."

"Why do you even wear them?"

"Go fuck your wife and stay out of my life. Six more months and I'll be an adult anyway. So really, why do you need to get to know me at all?" Yugi turned and walked away. He heard the male get up behind him, but by the time he was fulling standing Yugi had already taken off.

He ran through the streets, turning at random corners, not paying attention to where he was going. He became hopelessly lost, until not even he knew where he was, let alone how he had become to be there. He stopped under a lone streetlight, and removed his sweat soaked shirt.

He looked down, hating everything he saw. A chiseled chest, like he was a sculpture or something. A perfect six pack, and slightly curved slim pecs. He hunched his shoulders, feeling the one blemish on his pale moon colored skin. A circle with 1NM printed in it. If you ever asked him what it was from, he'd just shrug at you. He didn't know. It was from that time from before he was three. He was perfectly sculpted in muscular form, but he believed himself to be hideous from scars that the eye couldn't see. He heard a voice or two nearby and put his shirt back on. No one needed to see him, and be as disgusted as he was.

He stepped out of the light and into the shade of some trees. In shadows, where he couldn't be seen. It was where he belonged anyway. Atem and Akeifa, with a trailing Yami, who looked like a younger brother following the older ones around, came into the light of the lamp that he had just been standing under.

"Wait," Akeifa called.

"What?" Atem asked.

"Why are we even doing this? I mean, that Mutou kid has done nothing but insult and beat us up. Why should we care if he's missing or not?"

"Because our Dad's asked us to keep an eye on him, that's why."

"Yeah, 'Keifa, and besides doesn't it make you wonder why?" Yami added wrapping one of his arms around Atem's.

"Wonder why what?"

"Why he shuts everyone out like that?"

"Oh, was that not obvious?"

"What do you mean?" Atem asked.

"Wow, you guys are so thick. Yugi Mutou, according to my Dad, has been returned to the Orphanage more times than any of them can count. I'm sure if we asked Mutou though, he could actually give us a number."

"I guess…if you're shown enough times that you don't matter…you start to believe it," Yami said slowly like he was choosing his words carefully.

"It would certainly explain all the walls. What's the point of opening up if you know you're only going to be hurt again in the end?" Atem sighed.

"We have to show him that we care!" Yami said with a determined look on his face.

"Whoa, easy there, Yami," Akeifa said. "We don't know the first thing about Mutou. Well aside from that he likes to fight, run, and throw insults around."

"We also know he likes to be left alone."

"That's…I think that's kind of the problem," Atem said. "All he wants is to be left alone, and none of us are doing that. Maybe we should let him come to us?"

"He'd come with a hatchet and blowtorch," Akeifa smirked.

Yugi couldn't help it, he let out a loose laugh. They were pretty spot on about that hatchet thing. As soon as the sound escaped him though, he slapped a hand over his mouth. They were all on edge now, as they turned on flashlights and shined them into darkness surrounding them. Yugi shied behind the tree more to avoid a beam, but from the way that it stayed glued onto the tree, he didn't think he had been successful.

"Who's there? Come out!" Atem demanded.

"But I'm having so much fun listening to you guys talk about me," Yugi responded back before coming out from behind the tree.

"Mutou." They all said together.

"Oh look, you're parrots!"

"Do you even like the Freshalls?" Akeifa asked.

"I don't know, they're kind of pushy."

"Do you think you could give them another chance?"

"Oh, you think they're done with their first one? I give everyone a week, at the very least. They're not doing very well so far. As if this isn't proof enough on that. You know, by the time I get home, I'll bet my stuff will already be packed and by the door. Just like it always is. Perhaps I should just save them the trouble and go back after school myself. You know, I think I'll do that." Yugi turned and started to walk away down the street.

"You clearly don't know the Freshalls," someone said quietly.

He turned back around, "what do you mean?"

"They go out of their way to take on the more troubled Orphanage children. The ones with no hope of ever being adopted." Atem explained.

"Whatever," Yugi sneered.

"Is that your favorite word for when you're uncomfortable?"

Yugi's eyes widened in shock. How…how had he known that? How could he cut so easily through his defenses to obtain that information? Perhaps he had used it too much. Yeah, that was the only explanation, he had used it too much. Time to find another word to explain when he was uncomfortable. Whatever, was out. His eyes became slits as he faced them head on, arms crossed over his chest.

"Do you know the way back to my prison or not?"

"Why? Are you lost?" Akeifa sneered.

"I became that way on purpose dipshit."

"Uh, it's this way," Yami intervened.

"Lead the way, my little clone twin."

"Uh, you're shorter than us," Atem pointed out using his hand for emphasis.

"Yeah, but you're younger than me," Yugi replied mimicking him.

"We are?"

"By a full year."

"How? We're in the same grade," Yami pointed out.

"And I missed one, so I had to retake it."

"How?"

"Don't worry about it," he growled.

"So touchy," Akeifa teased.

Yugi swung his arm at him, having enough of his antics, but the other jumped back. He laughed slightly, got out of his defensive crouch, and turned, smirking, at Atem. "Well, at least someone learns quickly."

"What is he talking about?"

"I don't know."

"Here we are. The Freshalls!" Yami cried victoriously after they had only walked about two blocks. Huh, had he been going in circles? Well, this was a subdivision, so he wouldn't be all that surprised.

"Thanks," he said bounding up the steps.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Atem asked cupping a hand around his ear.

"I said go fuck your boyfriends."

"I don't have one," Akeifa said as Yami gasped.

"And you're probably never going to either. Well, not unless you got up with Marik anyway. Ryou and Malik have things for Mazaki and Valentine."

"The queens of ice and heartbreak?"

"Uh huh. So unless you grow boobs and a vajayjay, you're never going to be able to give them what they're looking for. I'd add in long hair, but you've already got that covered."

"Are always this volatile?"

"Yeah. What's the matter, don't you like it?"

Akeifa turned his head away and muttered under his breath, before starting to push his friends down the street. Atem said something along the lines of probably and right. While Yami cooed that he was sure they were just misunderstanding him, as usual. Yugi shook his head, a heart of gold that one, he'd enjoy tarnishing it if the child tried to get any closer to him that he already was.

He opened the door, stepped aside, saw a blur of long hair rush past him, stepped inside and closed the door. He learned quickly. The male was standing there, arms crossed, he didn't look amused.

"What?"

"That wasn't nice."

"Would you rather I laid into your wife again?"

"Go to your room, you're grounded."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, you're grounded."

"Tch, impossible."

"And how is that?"

"I've been grounded since I was 11 years of age. Since everyone abandoned me so I could fend for myself! It's the rest of you who are high up in the air! High on beliefs that's aren't real, and I'll prove it to you! Before the week is out, I'll prove that you can't change me! You can try! But you'll never change the person I've become! Besides, the world doesn't care about orphans anyway! Why should you!?" he ran into his room, slamming the door. He threw himself onto the bed, and started to cry.

They couldn't ground him! He wasn't even their son! This was just a temp home! He knew that! He knew it… That's all they ever were…temporary homes. No one cared enough to let him stay or get to know him. To try to cut through the layers that he had built up around himself, after the one person that he had depended on had abandoned him. So why was he crying now? Frustration? Hurt? Anger? He had no idea. Raised voice caught his attention, and he raised his head to listen.

"…COULDN'T POSSIBLY HAVE HANDLED THAT BETTER!"

"WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO, MIRA? LET HIM DO WHATEVER HE PLEASES WHNEVER HE WANTS TO? LET HIM THINK THERE ARE NO REPERCUSSIONS FOR HIS ACTIONS?!"

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I'M ASKING FOR AT ALL!"

"THEN WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU ASKING FOR?!"

"I'M ASKING FOR BOTH OF US TO JUST GIVE HIM SOME SPACE! IT'S WHAT HE WANTS! WE'RE CONSTANLY HOVERING OVER HIM, TRYING TO MAKE SURE HE DOESN'T RUN AWAY FROM US! BUT WHAT IF THAT'S THE PROBLEM?" she shouted back before her voice became quieter. Forcing Yugi off the bed and to put his ear against the door just to hear. "…they all said the same thing. The more they pushed him to become a part of their family, the more he pulled away. Until it just became too much, and they took him back. They couldn't handle it anymore. Maybe we should try…less."

"W-what? You don't want him to know we care?"

"No, you're twisting my words again, Dilan. I just think that maybe if we support him from afar, we'll have a better chance of making this work."

"Support him from afar?"

"Yes, like go to his track meets, run with him, um, try to find out his past history. Like who were his parents? And what did they do for a living? How did they die? Why did he end up in the Orphanage at the age of three? I think, if we could just know his past, it would help us to better understand who he is now."

"You…want to know about…his parents?"

She wasn't the only one, Yugi did too. He pressed his ear more against the door.

"Yes."

"Come to the station tomorrow, and we'll go out for coffee. I can't tell you here."

"Why not?"

"Mr. stubborn might be listening."

"Okay, but doesn't Yugi have a right to know? I mean, it is his past."

"Trust me, there are some things people are better off not knowing."

"Dear, just what happened?"

"I'll tell you tomorrow. Those images, I'll never erase them from mind, never."

The two sounded like they were going upstairs. Yugi backed away from the door. He knew? This guy knew why he was taken from his home when he was three? And why was he better off not knowing? He knew the Director knew. Yugi had flat out asked him, but he had just given Yugi a sympathetic look and said he would know when he was ready. He had tried once to look it up on the computer that the Director had given him, but the words Mutou, incident, and years, all in the same sentence, had a parental block on them. He'd given up, after 36 failed attempts at finding out his past on his own. Even the public librarians had refused to give him the papers describing his history. It was like one big secret that everyone but him was allowed to know. Honestly though, what was so horrendous about his past? What was his past?

 **You guys aren't losing interest in this, are you? I only ask because the reviews seem to dwindle every time I post a new chapter. And sorry about being late, last week was very busy. By the time Sunday arrived, I realized had forgotten to update, but I figured two more days wouldn't kill ya. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. ALso thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Please? Midnight ;p**


	5. Jumping without a parachute

**So here's the next chapter. And it was pointed out to me by a reviewer that many are not used to a dominant Yugi. I'll admit I'm new to it too, but wanted to give it a shot. So yeah. I do not own Yugioh, or any of the songs used in this story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 5

Yugi stood outside his window, bag in hand. He had climbed in and out of the window five times already. _Technically_ they hadn't done anything to warrant him going back to the Orphanage, not yet anyway. He tossed the bag back into the room, and climbed back into the room again. He sat on the bed, his head falling into his hands.

He raised his head, looking around the room. The white room was bare of any personality. Usually he preferred it that way, but here it just seemed off. Not that he had anything to make a personality. All he had was sarcasm and a poor attitude. He could already hear Penny in his head, _try_. _Just_ _try._

Try what though? To get along with others? Failed that a very long time ago. Try to give them a chance? Well…he was already doing that. But didn't that mean he trusted them or something? No, it just meant he was giving them same amount of respect that he gave everyone else.

Yugi yelled in frustration, punching the wall. There was a thunderous sound of footsteps before his door flew open. The male was standing there, eyes wide in fear with a small hand gun in hand. Yugi raised an eyebrow at him, as he surveyed the room.

He lowered the gun, as he took in the empty drawers of his dresser, his bag on the floor, and the open window. He put the safety back on the gun as he tossed it down the hallway. He stepped more into the room, but didn't do that Fatherly thing that Yugi was expecting. You know, the one where they sit on the bed and try to talk to you or give you advice? Yeah, that one.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, nothing, why do you ask?" Yugi responded.

"You screamed. I thought someone was trying to murder you."

"No, just frustrated. And I yelled. I'm a guy, I don't scream. I'll save those types of actions for the pussies."

"Okay," he shoved his hands into the pockets of his pajama pants. He looked around the room again. "Going somewhere?"

"I wouldn't have woken up the whole household if I was. I would have just left."

"Right. Do try to get some sleep then. You have school in two hours."

"Then I should probably start to get ready for it."

"I really think you should sleep for at least 30 minutes."

"Couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Why not? Are you having nightmares?"

"No. Nightmares are for people who have fears. I fear nothing, not anymore."

"Right, well then, I'll leave you to your own devices I suppose." He turned and left the room. Yugi heard him mutter something down the hallway, and the female respond to whatever it was he said. Then the two were moving back upstairs.

Yugi looked around the room again. Maybe he should put some personality in the room. No, then they'd start to think he was staying. That was never the case, nor would it ever be. Still, he unpacked his bag and put his clothes not in the drawers, but threw them in the closet. He put the drawers back in the dresser, and then started to get ready for school, making a long hot shower a part of that.

Yugi walked to school, with his…brothers trailing behind him. They still insisted on staying close to him. Bunch of babies. An arm suddenly slung itself across his shoulders. That same arm was pinned against the person's back, along with their other one, with his knee digging into it a moment later.

"Yugi!" Ryou and Malik cried grabbing his shoulders and trying to pull him off. It was futile though, he was so much stronger.

"Well, at least you didn't shove your elbow into my side this time," Atem complained beneath him.

"Does the sidewalk make a nice entrée?" he asked pressing him further into the ground.

"Not really," came the muffled answer. "Mind getting off?"

Yugi pushed on his head once so he was literally kissing the ground, before climbing off of him. "Next time I'll make you eat the dirt, got it?"

"And here I thought we were actually getting along."

"By what account?"

"Last night of course."

"You're even crazier than your psycho boyfriend."

"He is _not_ a psycho!"

"Uh, yeah, he is," Yugi muttered.

"Hi, Yugi!" a too cheerful for this hour of the morning voice said.

"Speak of the devil!"

"I'm not a devil," Yami whined.

"Ignore him," Atem sighed. Yugi looked over to see him wrapping his arms around his little fuck toy.

"Come on, before we're late for school," Yugi said grabbing his…brothers by their shirts and dragging them towards the school. Ah, to hell with it, he was tired of pausing before calling them his brothers. They were brothers as long as he lived in that house. Probably wouldn't be that long.

Yami came skipping up beside him. Grr, was this too joyful person impossible to shake? He was starting to think so. He looked back over his shoulder at Atem. He raised an eyebrow at him as if to ask what?

"How do you put up with it?"

"Put up with what?" Atem asked back.

"This overly cheerful attitude?" he asked jerking his thumb at Yami.

"Eh," he shrugged. "I suppose I'm just used to it."

"So, Yugi, do you want to go to the movies with us?" Yami asked.

"Do I look like I want to be part of threesome?"

"A what?"

"Agh!"

Kodai was of absolutely no help as he just laughed. Dorobo and Crayzee came up and asked what was so funny. He barely got out Yugi's last name.

"Seriously, what is it?" Yami asked tugging on Yugi's hand.

"No, Yami!" Atem shouted darting forward, but Yugi just shook him off. If the kid couldn't even stand an insult without crying, there was no way he could take a hit. Kodai, Dorobo, and Crayzee, no sweat. Sennen? No way. Kid was too much of a pussy to take even a shove in his direction.

"A threesome is where three people hook up," Yugi explained pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh!"

"You didn't hit him," Atem said in a shocked voice.

"You think he could take it?" Yugi asked. He slowly shook his head. "That's why."

"That was…uncharacteristically nice of you."

"Don't get used to it."

"Of course not."

"Yugi!" Ryou's whine caught his attention. He looked over to see that both of his brothers were trapped against the inside of the school gate by their _bullies_. Sighing he moved forward to shove them both to side. He grabbed his brothers and shoved them towards the school.

"What are you? Their _bodyguard_?" Dorobo sneered.

"Well, they do seem to need one," Yugi sighed.

"Why? We're not going to hurt them!" Crayzee protested.

"That you know of," Yugi muttered.

"What was that?"

"We have class, should probably head inside."

"No! That was much too long to be what you said!"

"Believe what you want!" Yugi said back hopping up the stairs two at a time. He herded his brothers through the doors and to where their lockers were. Thank Kami his was only two down, so he could keep an eye the weak little things. The other's lockers were on the other side of the school.

He threw his backpack inside, grabbed the books and work he'd need for the day, and headed to class, his new project in tow. Yugi plopped down in his seat, where Yami bounded up to him like some over excited puppy. Yugi tried his best to ignore him, but it's really hard to ignore someone when they _insist_ of holding a conversation with you. Finally having enough, Yugi decided to approach him differently than the others. He just hoped it worked.

"Down boy!"

"Huh?" Yami asked tilting his head to the side slightly.

Hey, that was kind of cute. Wait, what was he thinking? He shook his head, "if I go to the movies with you this weekend, will you please _shut_ _up_?"

"You'll go?"

"Only if you shut up."

"Shut up is a mean word, Mr. Mutou."

"I hear stupid is too, but I call you that all the time. Do we have a deal?"

"Yugi…" there was a hint of a warning in the growling way that Atem said his name.

"What?"

"He's not stupid."

"You're right, my bad. It was _completely_ stupid wasn't it?" Yugi asked grinning at him. Kodai didn't look amused.

"So…I only have to be quiet for today?"

"No, the next three," Yugi replied turning back to him.

"But that's the rest of the week!"

"Let's see how badly you want me to go," Yugi smirked he tilted his chair back on two legs.

"You watch! I'll do it!"

"We'll see," Yugi said as he chair suddenly lost balance and he went crashing to the floor.

Atem didn't even try to look innocent as he sat back in his chair. Yugi sneered up at him from the floor. "You're going to regret that, Kodai."

"Let's see what you've got."

He nodded as he righted his chair, and sat in it just as the teacher entered the room. He tapped his fingers on the desk as he waited for this new day of hell to end. The clock wasn't helping either as it dragged the seconds by. A sudden knock on the door grabbed everyone's attention.

Were they getting a new student? Was someone in trouble? Was there a family emergency? The teacher paused with her chalk on the board. She put it down, and went to answer the door. It was Penny at the door. The Sensei and she argued for a short period before the teacher sighed, and walked back to the head of the classroom.

"Yugi Mutou, the counselor needs to speak with you. She says it's important." Just from the expression on her face, you could tell this was a waste of time.

"Do I need my stuff?" Yugi asked.

The teacher's eyes zeroed in on him in complete surprise. "Uh, no," she shook her head.

So much for anonymous, he thought. He was known now, and this teacher, Sensei…he couldn't remember her name, was going to tell the rest of the teachers who he was. He nodded, got up and left the room amidst a lot of whispers. He heard a girl laugh like she thought something that was said was funny, very funny, before the door shut behind him. Penny led him down the hallway away from the door.

"What's up?"

"We have a problem," her voice alone said she'd rather not be doing this right now. Or ever.

"I'm going back to the Orphanage?"

"No, it's about the scouts."

"What about them?"

"They're not coming."

"WHAT!?"

"Shhhh!"

"Why not?"

"We don't know. Everything looked good, and then suddenly they just decided not to."

"But…what about my dreams of being a professional runner? How am I supposed to get to college?"

"Well, Akiha, Umeda, and I did a bit of digging around, and we came across Cross Country Racing."

"Cross what?"

"Cross Country."

"Okay, what is that?"

"It's a race of a team of seven. Together they run a course and try to win, together."

"How?"

"Their times are added up, and the one with the lowest score wins. It's like golf."

"I don't golf."

"Yugi, they have scholarships at prestigious Colleges for Cross Country runners. We only need a team of seven to compete. I'm making it your job to collect them. I've already signed us up for the first race in November. We have until then to train."

"All we need is seven runners?"

"Correct."

"And you want _me_ to convince people to join? In case you haven't notice, I'm not a real social butterfly."

"No, I've noticed. That's why I think this could be good for you. It'll give you a chance to interact with others."

"I guess," he kicked at the floor with is shoe. "Okay, so we have the clone twins, 6th place, that's three. Think I could convince the teddy bears to join?"

"Yugi."

"Yes?" he hated that tone. It was the I'm-about-to-ask-you-to-do-something-I-know-will-be-difficult-for-you tone.

"In order for you to work in a good team environment, you need to start using your classmates' names. Not the nicknames you've christened them with over the years."

"Fine, Kodai, Sennen, McCinney, possibly Dorobo, and Crayzee. Happy?"

"Happy enough."

"I'm not much of a people pleaser, Penny."

"I know."

"But for you, I'll try."

"That's all I ask."

"I'm not using first names though, too personal."

"Alright, you have until next Monday to form the team."

"Kay, I think I can do it."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, I'm going to need it."

Yugi turned and walked back to class. This was going to be difficult. How was he supposed to convince six people to join a running team with _him_? That was like asking a human to jump from an airplane without a parachute. Then again, Sennen would probably jump him if he asked him right out to join a team with him. The kid was so determined to be his friend, he'd probably jump out of the airplane without the parachute. Then the possessive boyfriend would join, just to make sure he didn't hurt the little sensitive thing. Though, he definitely wouldn't jump without a parachute. Dorobo and Crayzee hated him, so they wouldn't either. McCinney didn't even know he existed, so he wouldn't either. Hm, who else could he try to convince into jumping without a parachute?

Yugi sighed, his hand on the door before pushing it open and making his way back to his seat. The teacher had changed, but they barely gave him a passing glance before going right back to their lecture.

"What was that about?" Atem whispered to his right. Yugi looked over at him. It was the perfect opening, yet he didn't feel like taking the bait. He waved him off, placing his head down on his arms.

Now that the shock of the whole thing was over, he felt something he hadn't felt in years. Disappointment. He hadn't felt it, because he had never set himself up for it. It weighed on him now though. Like being deep in the ocean, with the pressure of the water pressing in around you. Dousing his bad attitude, and leaving him with nothing but the empty shell he really was. A piece of paper hit his head, and he lifted it to grab the scrap and read it.

 _You okay?_

 _Go fuck yourself._ He wrote back tossing it back to Atem.

"Yeah, you're okay," he said crumpling up the piece of paper in his fist.

"What's that in your hand Mr. Kodai?" their teacher asked.

"Notes, from the last class," he lied smoothly.

"Don't pass anymore in my class."

Or maybe not. Yugi smiled slightly, before going back to brooding. This sucked. All that hard work, just gone. And now because of them, he had to work on his _social_ _skills_. He shuddered. It was a horrifying thought.

" _Mutou_ , what is the answer?" their teacher asked. He gave him a look of death. "Or Crayzee can tell us." His voice just raised in pitch by like three octaves. Well, he was definitely his wife's bitch.

Yugi rolled his eyes, and placed his head back on his arms. Time passed quickly after that, and before he knew it, the bell was ringing for lunch. Ryou and Malik were instantly by his sides, but he just gently pushed them away.

He headed not for the track, the grounds, or even the lunch room, but instead the weight lifting room. Pacifically for the sandbags hanging from the ceilings. There was another kid already pounding on the bags. The other kid, a freshman by the look of him just raised an eyebrow at him as he stormed in their direction. He shoved the kid away and started to plow into the bag. He saw the kid before his fist even reached him.

He grabbed it, spinning him around slamming him into the sandbag, with his arm secured against his back. "You really want to step away before you're carted out of here on a gurney." The kid nodded his head in a frantic way, and Yugi released him. He was tripping over his own feet to get out of the room. Yugi saw him shove past Kodai, and some other kid who he wasn't sure of the name of. But he did look like that duel monster card, the dark magician. What was his name? Oh, he'd be bothered with it later.

He turned back to the bag and started to plow into it again. Like it was its fault that the scouts weren't coming to see him run. That they decided he wasn't worth their fucking time. Ugh! Why had he set himself up for so much hope? Why had he set himself up to face such disappointment again? It was his worst enemy, and he had learned a way to defeat it. Or at least he thought he had. Now, he wasn't so sure.

"Yugi, you know Mahad Yujin, right?" Atem's voice cut through his thoughts. "He's on the track team too."

"Is he now?"

"Yeah, I mean he's never placed, but he has tried to beat Jason."

"So, he'd be the 8th or 9th place?"

"10th actually," a rustic sort of toned voice said. Yugi stopped pounding in the bag for a moment to spare him a single glance. Then he started with the beating again.

"Friend. Six. Pieces in place, game set, all we need to do is play," Yugi muttered so low the two at the door didn't have a ghost's chance of hearing him.

"So what did Coach Yoru want?"

"To talk to the track team's Captain of course."

"Come on, you know I don't buy that. You started to act very…odd after you came back. Like something was bugging you."

"What are you? My shrink?"

"No, but you can vent to me, I don't mind."

"No need. I'm already venting. Next time though, I might take you up on that offer and vent _on_ you."

"Seriously, you need to let all those bottled emotions out," Yujin said.

Yugi whipped around, the back of his hands on display for both of them to see. "Does this really look like I'm bottling them up?" he hissed. They gasped, and Yugi smirked, before beating on the bag again. The back of his hands were raw, red, and looked as if they would split open at any moment.

"Yugi, stop!" Atem commanded.

"Come and make me," he challenged.

Atem tried just that, and Yugi just had to compliment his stupidity as he whipped around and laid him out flat. Atem didn't even twitch as he lay on the ground, out cold from one hit. Not even a challenge. He raised his hand to Mahad and beckoned him forward. The boy seemed to have more sense as he scampered off down the hallway.

He turned back to the bag, but was faced with a problem. Atem's feet were in his way. He huffed in aggravation as he grabbed the kid by one of his ankles and dragged him over to the opposite wall where he propped him against it. Like he was just sitting there or something. He knew better though. Yugi began to walk away before he paused and came back. He checked him over for anymore injuries than the one he had just delivered. Even going so far as to pull back his eyelids to check for a concussion. Upon deeming him still fit, to an extent, he walked back over to the bag and began the torture session upon his hands again.

Finally, after so long of pounding on the bag, he felt it. His hands split, smearing blood onto the bag. It didn't stop him though, he continued to pound on the bag. Seeing the blood, smelling it, giving him a high like nothing he could ever get anywhere else. It was a portrait of anger and rage he was painting on the sandbag with his own blood. A portrait that only he could make sense of.

"Yugi!"

Arms yanked him away from the bag, wrapping around his torso and waist. Hands grappled at his wrists, displaying what he had done for the world to see. Soft hands rubbed circles in the back of his hands.

"I thought we were past this? This senseless abuse of your own body," Penny whispered in his ear.

"It feels good," he said in a dead voice as he raised his hand, still in hers, to his mouth and flicked his tongue over one of his knuckles.

"No!" Penny hissed in his ear yanking his hand away. "No, just stop, please." He felt her shift slightly. "Get out of here! Fetch the nurse, and don't you dare follow her back!" she yelled.

"Do that again. I like it when you let your anger leak through."

"Yugi," her breath was shaky in his ear. "Why? Just tell me why?"

"They rejected me. I haven't felt disappointment like this in years. I needed to get it out. May I continue?"

"No. And Atem, how did he figure into this?" Yugi looked over at the body propped against the wall.

"He tried to stop me before I could partake in my release."

"What is it about you? That makes me feel so sorry for you, and yet at the same time, so scared of you? For you?"

"Fear makes us weak."

"No, I think it is a lack of fear that makes us that way."

"What az happened?" the nurse asked coming into the room. She gasped at seeing Atem and rushed over to him. She checked him over in the same way Yugi already had, before sighing in relief.

"The verdict?" Penny asked.

"He is fine. No concussion, but he starts to sport bruise on jaw line. Is zat a-a-a!" the question turned into a stutter as she turned around and caught sight of Yugi's hands. "Not again!" she cried rushing from the room. She was back in minutes with some gauze, disinfectant, and medical tape.

She fussed over him worse than Penny did as she fixed his hands up. He sat there, letting her. One would think this was out of character for him. Letting Penny hold him like this, and letting the Nurse scold him as she fixed him up. It wasn't though. They had something from him that not many did. His respect, though Penny had his trust too. They had never done a single thing to him to lose that, only gain more of it.

"Zere! You is finized. He not do zis for many a moon now. What change?" she asked Penny.

"The scouts aren't coming, Anastasia."

It was so blunt, Yugi visibly flinched. He stood from Penny's lap, and she let him. As he approached the bag again though, there was a slight groan from the other side of the room. They all turned towards it. Atem was coming back around.

"Damn, that's nasty left hook."

Yugi threw back his head laughing. His shoulders shook, as he clutched at his stomach, he collapsed back to the ground, rolling on it with laughter. When he had finally calmed down, he looked over at Atem to see him staring at him with surprise written all over his face.

"You should do that more often," he whispered.

"Knock you out?" Hm, maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.

"No! I meant laugh, it suits you better than those scowls and sneers do."

"Really?" Yugi asked his voice dropping down into a husky one as he started to crawl towards Atem.

"Uh, yes," he hesitated as Yugi continued to come towards him crawling. His ass sashaying from side to side in a very alluring and sexy way. Atem pressed himself up against the wall.

"And you should join the Cross Country team I'm putting together," he whispered in that husky voice directly into his ear.

"Are you nuts!? You knock me out and then ask me to join a team with you?" he shoved Yugi away and stood up, swaying slightly, before starting to walk away.

"Is that a no?"

"That's a hell no!"

"That's fine," Yugi stood to lean against the wall, his arms crossed. "Guess that means I'll have Yami all to myself."

Atem froze in the doorway, "what?" the voice he used could only be described as dangerous. It made Yugi's eyes light up with joy, finally, a small form of a challenge.

"Well, we both know that the child will do anything to become my friend. You don't think he'd jump me at the chance to spend large amounts of time with me? Unhindered by you?"

Atem whipped around to face him. His face was contorted in rage as he approached him, fast, and got right up in his grill. "You little _bastard_."

"Oh now, don't get all in a huff," he said straightening out the collar on Atem's jacket. "I'm sure he'd listen to you if you told him it was a bad idea, wouldn't he?" By the way Atem was now glowering down at him, they both knew he wouldn't. "I mean, what? Can't you hold sex over him or something? Oh, but wait, does the little _virgin_ even know what that is?"

Atem roared at him, right before he swung at him. Yugi gave a surprised remark before ducking, and backing up from the wall by a good six or seven steps. It seemed he had hit a nerve there. He'd have to file that way for further use later.

Atem cussed and cursed as he shook his hand, which he had just hit the wall with with a tremendous force. He turned back to face Yugi, who was wearing a big grin of delight. He turned to Penny, "How are my social skills coming in your opinion?" he asked her.

"Terrible! The point was to make _friends_ , not _enemies_!" she shrieked.

"So, do you still not want to join the team?" Yugi asked turning to Atem again. He wanted to jump back but didn't as the latter was right in his face. Personal bubble was completely demolished with his presence.

"On one condition, you keep your grimy little paws off of my boyfriend."

"Agreed," Yugi said with a smirk. "But you know, I never intended on laying a hand on him anyway. He's too weak, like my brothers. I have no use for the weak. They're too easily breakable. The strong however, I love breaking them. I'll enjoy breaking you." Then he walked away, out of the room and back to class, which they were both really late for.

He walked into the classroom, flouncing down in his chair. Yami turned to him with worried eyes, flicking once over to where Atem usually sat, before coming back to rest on him. The teacher yelled at him to turn around, but Yami ignored her. His eyes imploring Yugi to tell him his boyfriend was okay. He must have known that Atem went to find him. He flicked his wrist at the door as it opened again, and Atem came to sit down at his seat. Yami's entire demeanor changed as he went from worried to joyful in less than a second flat. Yugi chuckled at the behavior before leaning back in his chair.

He looked over at Atem, one down, five to go. Yami would be easy, so he would tackle him next. He'd intimidate McCinney, and Yujin to join. As for the others, Dorobo and Crayzee, well, perhaps he could convince them to play a little game with him, and when they lost… Yeah, this might just work.

Still, Penny had a point, he could see this now. Maybe he did need to work on his social skills, if only to make this short termed alliance more…bearable, for everyone involved. But how exactly did one go about doing that? His eyes slid over to where his brothers sat. They needed to be stronger, in the actual sense of the word, and he needed help with his social skills. Perhaps, they could teach him a thing or two. A good turn for another, one of his foster Mother's always told him.

"Psst, Yami," Yugi whispered. He turned to him, eyes expectant. "Do you want to join a Cross Country team I'm putting together?" He nodded. He sent him a grin, not a smirk, a semi-real grin. He threw the smirk at Atem, holding two fingers up at him. His eyes narrowed considerably as Yami looked between them with confusion written all over his face. Yugi sighed looking at it. "That look is too cute," he told Atem.

"I know," Atem groaned placing his head down on his arms.

"No wonder you keep him under such a tight lock. He's way too cute for his own good."

Yami tilted his head to the side, pouting as he continued to remain obliviously confused. Yugi let out a breath of hot air as he tilted has head back to look at the ceiling. Ugh, what was this kid doing to him with those looks? He didn't even have a name for the emotions rising inside of him. He rubbed his temples, as he tried to fight off a headache.

The teacher told Yami to turn around again, and this time he did. Yugi looked over at Atem to see him watching him in wonder and amusement. He must have looked quite the sight then. He growled slightly as he turned away from him, waiting for the rest of the day to tick by so he could find his next targets, err, participants.

[Time skip]

"So, what do you say?" Yugi asked McCinney as he fidgeted against this friend's locker.

"I-I don't know," he stuttered.

"Well, you better figure it out quick before I find another way to get you to join," he replied cracking his knuckles intimidatingly.

"I'll join! I'll join! I'll join the Cross Country team!" he shrieked his voice taking on an almost girly tone to it. His hands waving frantically near his face.

"Excellent, so we'll see you after school on Monday on the track field."

"Okay." He was shaking from head to toe. Weak little pathetic thing, but it had to be done.

"Chill, I was never actually going to touch you. Your locker however," he winked at Jason, "might have faced a few dents." He walked away after that. He heard Jason make an 'oh' sound as he slid down the lockers to sit on the floor. Yugi chuckled as he sought out his next target.

He wasn't anywhere. Finally getting fed up, Yugi asked a couple of students where he could find Mahad Yujin. Apparently his parents had picked him up halfway through the day due to a panic attack. Oh, fucking great. He asked if they knew where he lived. Idiots actually told him. 2676 Pollick Avenue. Oh, wonderful, it was right next to the possessive boyfriend. He thanked them before walking off, not before hearing their comments about wondering if that kid went to school here though. He rolled his eyes and headed for his temp home.

He bounded up the stairs, tossing his backpack in his room, grabbed his iPod, he couldn't believe he'd actually forgot it here, and left the home again. He walked down towards Atem, but stopped at one house before his. He went up the steps and knocked on the door. A young woman opened it, wiping her hands on a white apron.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked.

"Is Mahad here?"

"Oh yes. Are you a friend of his?"

"I'm trying to be."

"Okay, Mahad, sweetie! You have a visitor!"

"Coming," a voice said from somewhere down the hallway. "Hey, At-," his words seemed to be caught in his throat as he stared at Yugi.

"Hey, I heard you had a panic attack, and just came to see if you were alright?" if you didn't know him, you'd actually think he cared. Mahad clearly didn't know him, for he relaxed, and let down his guard.

"Uh yeah, yeah, I'm feeling much better now."

"Cool! So, I should probably get to the real reason why I'm here."

"The real?"

"Yeah, I'm putting together a Cross Country running team, would you like to join?"

"Uh, who else is on it?"

"Well, so far, Atem, Yami, Jason, I'm hoping you will join those ranks." He took a small step forward.

"Uh yeah, okay, I'll join."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it sounds like fun."

"Okay, so the first meet is Monday after school. See you there!" Yugi said waving and turning to walk down the steps. He passed Atem on his way down. "Four," he whispered to him.

He plugged his headphones in, and went for a run. Running through his subdivision, the trail, and the next subdivision. He found another trail, and ran through that one to yet another subdivision. Geez, clearly, these people had no respect for nature, whoever built them that was. No respect for it at all.

He ran back, taking him a few hours until he was in his subdivision again. He ran around it, until it started to grow dark. He was heading back when he came across a small lake of sorts. He walked towards it, and sat down on the dock that was there. He took off his shoes and socks, dipping his toe in the frigid water. It reminded him of the one he had found in the wilderness that one time. Only that one was nature made, while this one was so obviously human.

He didn't know how he long he sat there, just that it was a very long time. A shadow plopped down next to him. They didn't say anything, or try to touch him, they just sat with him. Yugi glanced over to see Mr. Kodai. He tugged one of his headphones out.

"This is pretty," he said quietly.

"I had a feeling you would find it eventually. You've always been attracted more to nature than you have people."

"I can't help it," he shrugged. "I understand nature better than I do people."

"So, my son tells me that you're starting a Cross Country team, and you blackmailed him into joining."

"He would've joined anyway, blackmail or not."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Yami. Your son will do anything to protect his innocence. Even if that means he takes on any _little_ _problems_ that the boy creates himself."

"Hm, and how did you come about this information?"

"I have what you could almost call an unnatural talent for pushing people the wrong way. I happened to do so this afternoon. How's his hand?"

"Not broken, but bruised."

"That's good. He's a strong opponent, I'd hate for him to go down so easily. Well, more easily than a nasty left hook can do."

"Sigh, are you just laying into him because he's mine? Or do you get some sick satisfaction from it?"

"The latter of course. You know how much I love my violence."

"Yes, I do." He stood back up.

"Is it really time to go back already?"

"Well, it is heading towards nine."

"Really? I've been sitting here that long?"

"Indeed."

"Let's go then."

"Yugi," the tone was resigned, and he supposed that was what made him look back.

"Yeah?"

"Will I receive even a fraction of the trust you once held for me, ever again?"

"No." his answer was blunt, brutal, and cold.

"Why? Why can't you forgive me?"

"You left me here, with those people to look after me. I hated it there. They wouldn't listen to me. I _hated_ it. You, you and the others at the Domino Station knew me the best. And you left me with others, others who thought I was just being a stubborn little kid. I can never forgive you for this, never, no matter how many times you beg. I won't ever forgive you for _abandoning_ me."

He took off running back to the temp home. The male was pacing on the porch, but when he saw him he breathed out in relief. He stomped past him, slamming the door open. He headed to his room, and slammed the door. He kicked the wall, punched it, picked up his chair and smashed it to bits against it.

How dare he? _How dare he?_ Ask for his forgiveness. No! No! Never! Never would he give him that! That man, and all the others! They had abandoned him when he needed them the most, and then expected that he would welcome their return with open arms. Expected that he would be happy at seeing him as they dragged him from the home he had created for himself. The place where he had been _happy_.

He let out a loud yell of aggravation and picked up a wooden chair leg smashing it against the wall again, this time forming a dent in the wall. He hit the dent again and again until it became an obvious hole in the wall. He then tossed the leg aside, it wasn't giving him the satisfaction, no, the release of the anger that he was currently feeling. So he started to plow his hands into untouched walls instead, until he felt the cut beneath the gauze, and his knuckles started to bleed again. He ripped off the gauze and started to paint another portrait of anger on the walls.

By the time he was done, he felt no relief from his anger, no satisfaction, as he slumped to the floor. He banged his already damaged his hands into the floor, beating them like a five year old having a tantrum. Like someone who wasn't getting his way. He yelled again in aggravation, his voice cracking at the end.

Tears, they started to cascade angrily down his face. That man. He just made him so angry sometimes. How dare he ask for forgiveness, when all he wanted was to be loved? Loved and wanted, that was all he had ever wanted, even as a child. Loved and wanted, it was engraved in his system from long before he could even remember. He curled up into a ball on the floor and just cried. Memories of him doing this before flickered in the depths of his mind, but there were some things that he was better off not remembering. Even he knew this. He was better off not knowing. So he pushed them back, but they persisted as he cried in his curled up form. So he took a chance and paid them a little of his attention.

 ** _There was a room, and it had a rather large bed in the middle of it. There were toys, scattered around the room, but he was afraid of them. Especially the teddy bear. He hated the teddy bear game. Hated it._**

 ** _He was curled up, crying, in the middle of the bed. The room smelt like blood, musk, and something else he had never been able to place a name to. His back ached, his belly hurt, and his hands were tied together. These were all trifle things though, things he was used to, not much worth remembering. He was scared, so scared. The door flew open, and he shrieked in fear as he shot up and moved back towards the head of the bed._**

His memories failed him here though. He had always tried to see past the fear of the door opening, but he could never get past it. The fear, it was mind wrenchingly vast and too much to overcome. He took deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. When at last he had succeeded, he climbed into bed and promptly fell asleep.

[Time skip]

Yugi left the home, before anyone was even up. He had three hours before school, so he went back to that small lake. This time, instead of just dipping his toes in the water, he removed his pants and went waist deep in it. He had left his boxers on, but he didn't worry about getting them wet, he had brought an extra pair.

H stood there, the water starting to make his lower half go numb as he waved his hands on the surface of the water back and forth. Breathe, just breathe. Another one of the things one of his foster Mother's told him. Whenever he was upset, she had always whispered in his ear to breathe, just breathe. Breathing makes everything better.

"You know, I have the oddest of urges to just take your clothes and run," Atem said from behind him. He peered over his shoulder to peer at the kid. Was he really that stupid? "However, I know by doing that, I'll for sure get my ass kicked, so I won't."

"What do you want?" Yugi growled facing forward again.

"Are you okay?"

"Peachy, why do you ask?"

"Well, I think the whole block heard you last night. It sounded like you were murdering someone."

"Which begs the question of why you're approaching me now."

"I don't know, but I guess it's because I think Yami's right. You need a friend, Yugi. Someone who's not afraid of you, or will run if you give them a death glare or take a swing at them. And so far, I've been the only person to do that. So I guess the burden falls on me."

"You really are a man, aren't you?"

"I would hope so. I mean I wasn't born with a penis for nothing."

"Hm, no I meant you were a man, because you can put your foot in your mouth flawlessly. Only those of us who are true men can do that."

"And when exactly have you ever put your foot in your mouth?"

He chuckled, "another time perhaps. For now, leave. I wish to exit the water."

"And you can't because I'm here because…?"

"My body would sicken you as much as yours does mine. Leave."

"Fine, but I have to disagree with you. With as feisty as you are, I think I would enjoy seeing your body very much." He walked off back down the dock, and out of sight. Once Yugi was sure he wasn't coming back, he made his way out of the water, changed his boxers, and threw his pants back on. He then grabbed his backpack and made his way to the end of the pier where Atem was waiting for him, Yami in tow.

"Seriously, you have to have a death wish."

"Could be, or maybe we just really want to be friends with you."

"Yami, I believe that of him. You? You're just looking for some sort of sick gain from all this. I would know, it's what I want from this Cross Country team of ours."

"Oh?" he moved closer to Yugi, getting right up in his face again. "And what sort of gain is this?"

Yugi moved closer until they were almost touching, nose to nose, lips to lips. "You're just going to have to wait to find out," he said in that husky whisper again, making sure his breath ghosted over Atem's face. He paused, moving a fraction closer, breathing on him deliberately, almost feeling their lips touch in contact. Atem made a small noise in the back of his throat, shifting ever so slightly forward. Their lips almost coming in contact, then Yugi turned and walked away, leaving them there. He heard Atem's protest, and Yami ask what that was about.

"He's trying to push me to my edge. I hate to admit it, but it's working."

"Hey, I thought I was the only one who gave you those?"

"Huh? Oh, shit! Damn you, Yugi!"

He waved to acknowledge that he heard him, but didn't turn around. Atem must have become aroused. Now he was going to explain how that could happen to his little virgin. And Yami _was_ a little naïve, so he guessed that he shouldn't have been surprised that he didn't know that there was more than one way to make someone _aroused_. Still, he was going to have to save that in his memory banks for later use of blackmail.

Atem and Yami caught up with him moments later, as he walked into a CD store. It was his favorite, and the guy behind the counter wasn't that bad either. A little flirty, but it was in a joking way. So Yugi put up with it.

"Hey Sampson!" Yugi called strolling in. he hopped up onto the stool across from the counter.

"Hey, nasty left hook," he greeted back.

"This town is too small."

"You've said that before. Oh hey, check this, the new CD of Escape the Fate came out. Hate Me, and I saved a deluxe copy for you," he held up the square casing for him to see.

"Oh, wow, okay, how many days before it's mine?"

"Six."

"Alright, so two Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I'll be here after school."

"Sounds good to me, I'll put you to work as soon as you walk through the door."

"You're the best Sampson!"

"Yeah, I know. Who're they?"

"Shadows that refuse to leave me alone."

"That sucks."

"Hey, did you forget that you're spending the day with us this Saturday?" Atem asked.

"They're also insisting that I take part in social outings. You know, to make me more of a people person?" Yugi explained in a loud whisper.

"Alright, I won't keep you tied down all day then. Just half of it. Wouldn't want to miss a chance for you to be _socialized_." Sampson teased.

"Hey!"

"You're not going to tie him down at all."

"Oh, I know that. I don't think there's a soul alive that can tie him down, at least not without getting their ass handed to them anyway."

"Yeah, I guess that's true."

"I've heard you've had yours handed to you several times already."

"Tch, I wouldn't call it a handing to."

"No, more of a beat down," Yugi interjected smirking.

"Was not!"

"He's in denial because he thinks he's the baddest thing on this side of town," Yugi muttered to Sampson. He choked on a laugh as it wanted to erupt from his chest.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, I've missed you, I really have, Yugi."

"So what else do you have that's new?"

"Nothing else, just the one CD. Though, I do really still think you should give Linkin Park a chance. I think you'd really like their tunes."

"No one says tunes anymore. They say sound."

"Sound, right, got it."

"And I think you're wrong. They sound like a cheesy rock band name to me. Linkin Park, not gonna happen. I'm not going to damage my ears with senseless sounds."

"Suit yourself, but you're making a really big mistake."

"If you say so."

"Is he always like this?" Atem interrupted.

"You mean he acts differently around you?"

"No."

"Then yeah, he always like this."

"Oh, we've got to go," Yugi said looking at the clock on the wall. "We only have five minutes to get to school."

"Shoot!" Atem said grabbing his and Yami's hands and running out of the store with them. He paused for a moment to grip Yugi's tighter as he struggled to free himself, before charging towards school.

Yugi looked over at Yami to see pure joy on his face. What? He liked being carted around like a mule? Odd boy. Yugi on the other hand was starting to claw at the hand that had encased his. By the time they reached the school, Yugi had clawed through the layers of skin and straight to the blood vessels underneath, Atem was bleeding. He still wouldn't let go though, and Yugi was just getting ready to bite him, when his hand was suddenly released.

He seized the front of Atem's collar and slammed him against the fence. "Don't you ever do that again," he growled before punching him in the gut twice and then just leaving him there. Bitchin asshole.

"Tem, are you okay? Are you okay, Tem?" he heard Yami coo, but he didn't give a damn at this point. _Nobody_ grabbed him like that. He should feel lucky he was still _conscious_.

He bypassed his locker and went straight to his class. Throwing his backpack into the corner. Five minutes later he was excused from class to report to the Principal's office. Atem was pacing outside, and he looked scared when Yugi filed into the room, like he wanted to go into too, but wasn't allowed.

Yami was sitting in one of the chairs, fidgeting.

"Mr. Mutou, please sit," Umeda said pointing to the other vacant chair.

"What's up?" he asked siting slowly into the chair,

"Yami, go ahead."

"I think you need to apologize to Atem."

"Pfft, like hell."

"Yugi, you've been beating him up a lot lately, and he's never once retaliated. I think that deserves and apology."

"And I think you deserve a body bag," he reached out to touch his chin. "Don't worry though, I won't give you one of those either."

Yami was so tense under his hand, as it ticked against the point of his chin, Yugi could feel it. He sighed, withdrawing his hand. This was getting ridiculous. The amount of guilt he felt towards Yami was due to who knew what. But it seemed every time he looked hurt, or scared, or some other shitty emotion. His conscious, which before had been practically nonexistent, reared its ugly head.

"I still think you should. He has a bruise on his chin, abdomen, and knuckles. They are your doing. You need to apologize or you can't hang out with us this weekend!"

"Oh, cry me a river, that'll ruin my whole week."

Yami looked like he might do just that. Yugi sighed in aggravation, as he stood up and flung open the door. "Hey Atem."

The kid in question stopped pacing to face him in surprise. Yeah, he should be, it was the first time he'd actually used his name, and probably the last too. "I'm so sorry…that your boyfriend is a pussy." He said before turning back to Yami. "Happy?"

"That wasn't an apology, and…what's a pussy?"

"You should really teach him some of the meanings to these words. That way when I insult him, he actually knows it."

"You little fucker!" Atem yelled throwing a punch at him, again. Did this boy ever learn? He ducked, leaving Atem to punch the principal's door instead, earning him a wonderful cracking noise. Yugi laughed his head off when Atem pulled his hand away to reveal a decent sized hole the size of his fist. He shook his hand, as he looked nervously at Umeda. Yugi was still laughing, leaning against the wall for support.

Umeda had his head in his hand. "I knew this was a bad idea," he muttered. "Leave, all of you, now. Before I start handing out detentions."

Yugi snickered as he made his way back to class. He heard Atem and Yami arguing behind him. Yami gave a little hiccup sound, and both of their footsteps stopped. Aw, he was going to cuddle his little non fuck buddy. Yugi snickered to himself again as he opened the door to his classroom and made his way back to his seat. They joined the class already in progress not ten minutes later.

He ignored the heated glare he was receiving from Atem. The drooped head of Yami in front of him. He loved making other people feel as he did most of the time. It was such a good feeling to have company in misery, or anger. He continued to ignore them, at least until Saturday came around, and he couldn't anymore.

"Oh Yugi!" Sampson sang from the front of the store.

"Yeah?" he called back.

"Your dates have arrived." He sounded like he was eating a big grin while saying that.

"They're not dates!"

"Regardless, they're here."

He groaned in annoyance. He was actually hoping that if he ignored them, they'd just leave him be. It had worked, to an extent, at school. Why couldn't it work outside of it as well?

"I don't want to go," he admitted coming back out into the shop.

"Too bad, you need to be socialized. Now, go social."

"Ugh, if I didn't want that CD so much, I would have a few choice remarks for you to that."

"It's a good thing for me that you want it so bad, huh?"

He shrugged before heading out to meet up with the others. They were lingering outside. Let's see, there was Kodai, Sennen, Ryou, Malik, Dorobo, Crazyee, Yujin, and someone he'd never met before. He stared at them, as they pointedly tried to shrink behind Dorobo.

"Hey, stop eyeballing my little brother, Mutou," Dorobo said. "What are you? A pervert? He's only 13 ya know."

"Great, now I have to call you Dorobo one and Dorobo two in my head and aloud."

"I thought Penny told you not to give us anymore nicknames?" Atem asked, arms crossed over his chest.

"But it's not. There's two of them, so I need to differentiate."

"Or, you could just call him Bakura."

"And call Bakura Ryou? Yeah, that'll happen."

"Oh, come on Yugi, it's just one day," Malik reasoned.

"Whatever, what are we going to see anyway? The Peanuts Movie?"

"Do we all look G rated to you?" Marik asked.

"Well," he let his voice fade out as he looked down at Yami, then his brothers, and last Bakura. "Maybe not all of you, but I do have my doubts."

"No, we're going to see, The Last Witch Hunter," Atem said.

"Why not Paranormal Activity?" Yugi asked with a lecherous grin.

"Alright, let's go!" Akeifa said leading the way.

"Yugi, remember, social interaction is about being friendly," Ryou whispered.

"And making connections with those you hang out with. Finding common ground." Malik added.

"I'm not the friendly type, and we all do track. Isn't that common enough?"

"No," they answered together.

"Worth a shot."

The movie passed quickly, and before he knew it, he was sitting in a small arcade. Everyone had gone off to play some sort of game, leaving Yugi and Atem alone. Not one of their brighter moves in his opinion. And from the disgruntled look on Atem's face, he agreed.

"I still think you would have liked my suggestion better," Yugi spoke up. Atem didn't need to be a genius to know what Yugi was referring to.

"And why is that?"

"You would have an excuse to cuddle with Yami the entire time."

"We were trying to have a good time, not keep him up with nightmares for weeks. And that goes for your brothers, and Akeifa's as well."

"Tch, details."

"Why do you hate us so much?"

"I don't hate you."

"Yeah right," Atem scoffed rolling his eyes.

"I hate your actions," he clarified before standing up and going over to Akeifa, luring him into a game of pool. He'd already heard about his Cross Country mission, so Yugi put it on the table.

"So, if I win, you won't try to recruit me, but if you win I have no choice but to join," he said slowly.

"That's right, and it shouldn't be that hard. I mean a five years old beat me once."

"You're kidding right?" he asked laughing.

"Nope, I'm dead serious." Yugi failed to mention that he had been four at the time, and the only reason he had lost was because Mr. Kodai had walked into the room making him hit the white ball into one of the pockets, scratching when he was trying to hit the eight ball. Those were details that Akeifa had no use knowing though.

"Oh! This game is in the bag!"

It was ten minutes later that Yugi was trying to persuade Marik to play, and Akeifa was sitting across from Atem in complete bafflement. Marik point blank refused pool though, and instead suggested air hockey. It didn't matter to Yugi though, he threw down his pool stick and joined him over at the table.

"Same stakes apply?"

"Yep."

"This is my game, no one has ever won against me. Don't get any notions you'll be the first."

"Of course not."

The game went on for 20 minutes, but Yugi finally arose victorious, mostly because he had toyed with Marik most of the time though. He didn't want him to feel unaccomplished on his own field. That would have been rude.

"Come on, my name _is_ game in Japanese. I'm sure my Mother had her reasons for naming me that. It was like she could see into the future, and know I would be the best at them."

"I still think you rigged the field."

"I don't cheat. There's no point in winning if it's done in an unfair way."

"Okay, have your ever played duel monsters?" Atem asked.

"Yes…"

"If I win, they get out of your little…arrangement. However if you win, then they stay on the team."

"No, a loss is a loss. Besides, if you try to fight our battles for us, he'll think less of us," Akeifa waved off his offer before Yugi could even say a word.

"No, not you, just Atem. That makes six. We have a full team."

"Six is a full team?"

"No seven is, and I'm seven so, yes, we have a full team."

"Well, Monday should be interesting."

"Does Coach Yoru even know anything about Cross Country?"

"Dunno, never thought to ask her," Yugi shrugged.

"Yeah, it should be interesting indeed."

 **So, still good so far? Thank you to everyone who reviewed User and Guest alike. Also, thanks to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	6. A couple of mouthfuls

**I do not own Yugioh or any of the songs used in this fic, enjoy!**

Chapter 6

Yugi silently cried as he listened to the song the Best is Yet to Come by Red. He wished it was true, he really did. The best never came though. He stared at his walls, and around the room. The chair still lay broken on the ground. His blood still smeared on every wall in the room. He listened to the end, singing softly with it.

 _And after all that we've been through  
And after all we left in pieces  
I still believe our lives have just begun  
Cause now the past can be outrun  
And I know you are the reason  
I still believe the best is yet to come_

 _I won't turn around_  
 _Let it all slip away_  
 _I'm never backing down_  
 _Cause tomorrow's a new day_  
 _And everything can change_

 _And after all that we've been through_  
 _And after all we left in pieces_  
 _I still believe our lives have just begun_  
 _Cause now the past can be outrun_  
 _And I know you are the reason_  
 _I still believe the best is yet to come_

 _I still believe the best is yet to come_  
 _The best is yet to come_  
 _I still believe the best is yet to come_

Usually Red made him feel better, but this just made him feel like crap. Maybe he should change the song, yeah, he'd change the song. He flicked to the next one, but left it on repeat. It started out slow, almost entrancing really, like a lullaby. He listened closely, wiping tears from his face.

He shot up, looking down at the name of the song. Hymn for the Missing. He was starting to think that they were having a sentimental moment here. Until we have faces. Huh, he never would have guessed from the title. He clicked for the next song to play, and took it off repeat one, just in case.

Feed the Machine. Ah, the tempo was much better, screaming, yes, he flopped back down on his bed, turning the sound up. This was what he had been looking for in the first place. He looked back down at his iPod to see he was on number one for the CD. Really? He'd listened to the entire thing already? Wow. He must have been sitting here longer than he thought.

He switched to Escape the Fate, CD Ungrateful. Ungrateful was ironically the first song. They started screaming for the first sound he heard in his ears. He looked at the blood again on his walls, before lifting his hands so he could see them. No one had taken notice of them. They didn't see what he saw. New scabs covering the old ones. So far as anyone was concerned, they had been broken in the same way when he had come home that first day.

He picked at one of the scabs on his knuckles until it came off. Blood welled up, instantly free of the healing bind it had been under. He picked at the other ones until his hands were bleeding again. He licked the swelling blood away on his right hand, disgusted by his own actions. He got up and went into the bathroom, plugging up the sink and running hot water into it. When the sink was nearly full, he turned off the water, and plunged his hands inside the water.

He hissed in pain, before grinning, sweet relief. The water turned pink and then slowly, red. He refused to move his hands from the water, even though the initial sting had long since faded. He was entranced by the color of the water, and how it was growing darker by the second. When the water had seemed to stop turning red, he removed his hands, to almost find them dyed the same color. He didn't even wipe his hands on a towel, just went back to his room. He wiped his hands on his pillow, looking down at his iPod again.

Chemical Love was just coming on. Creepy music started in, slowly drums and bass were added. Finally, the lyrics came. He sat, listening to them. Sighing, he flipped to the next song, Picture Perfect. He'd always liked this one, despite the tone of it. It talked about someone else dying so the singer could move on with their life. Picture Perfect indeed.

There was a knock on his door, and he paused the music, Risk it All, to answer it. He opened his door a crack to look out. The male was there.

"Yes?"

"We're having a little get together out here. Do you want to join us?"

"No."

"You sure."

"Yes." He started to close the door, but the male shoved it open, and looked ready to envelope his ear in some lecture, but he just froze up. Yugi barely acknowledged his behavior as he went to sit back on his bed, curling his arms around his knees, placing his chin upon them.

"What have you been doing in here?" horror was in every syllable of every word that he spoke.

"Redecorating."

"With what?"

Yugi moved his head to look down at his hands, "you don't like it?"

"With what?" he repeated.

"Dear, does he want to…" the female trailed off at a loss for words as she appeared at her Husband's side.

"Whatever is available to me."

"If you wanted a different color, I would have gone to the store to get you one." The female said quietly, as she picked up a chair leg, or half of it. "You didn't need to use your blood."

"Heh, what makes you so certain it was blood?" he asked cockily.

"We grew up on the Southside. We know what blood on white walls looks like. Those are sights I could never forget, even if I tried." She answered firmly, anger leaking through her voice.

Yugi looked down, swallowing hard. Maybe there was more to them that he gave them credit for. He had assumed that they had grown up in pretty subdivisions like what they were living in now. He would have never guessed that might've grown up in cookie cutter homes. It just didn't show, not on the surface at least.

The Ghetto. The Southside. It was an area that he had been in a couple of times. Group homes. Crowded with children all squabbling for attention. He hadn't though. No, he had just left, going back to the Orphanage. Back to the Director. He'd rather lived there, than a group home in the Ghetto. There was only one time where… He shook his head, better to not think about it.

"Sorry," he muttered.

The female nodded, before walking over to one of the walls and scraping some of the blood off with her nails. "So, what color do you want to paint over this?" she asked.

"Black?"

"No. How about a baby blue?"

"How about a puke green?"

"A nice hot pink?"

"A strangle me purple?"

"A sunshine yellow?"

"An ashen death grey?"

"A cranberry red?"

"…okay."

"Were you just communicating in some secret language that I couldn't understand?" the male asked.

"Really? You couldn't follow that?" Yugi asked.

"No, not at all."

"Pity."

"Yes, we were," the female said kissing his cheek before leaving the room.

"So is he coming out?" he heard a very cheery voice ask.

"No, he's tired."

"From what? All he did was work three hours for that CD guy," Atem said.

"What CD guy?" the male asked.

"Sampson, from Cheaper Than Dirt Electronics?"

"And you're acquainted with that _pervert_ how?"

"He's not a pervert! Most just don't understand his sense of humor! Besides, we have an understanding of music. He knows what bands I like, and tries his best to get them for me. In exchange, I work off the payment in his store. He gets free labor, and I get the newest CD from whatever band that I like just released. I'm working for Hate Me deluxe edition right now. Oh! I can't wait to get my hands on it!"

"Or…we could just buy it for you," he suggested.

"No way! Nothing is worth as much as when you work for it yourself. The pride you get from owning something you worked for, put time and effort into, no high is better than that."

"If you say so," the male shrugged before leaving, making sure to shut the door behind him.

Seriously though, he could barely contain his excitement at waiting for next Sunday. It would be his at the end of the day. Yugi glanced over at his desk, his schoolbooks sat on top of it. He looked at his demolished chair. That…had been really stupid. He sighed walking over to his desk, and picking up the books and dragging them over to bed before catching up on all the work that was due the next day. He was such a procrastinator, always waiting until the last minute. Don't tell the teachers though, they thought he was a saint, because he always turned it in on time. He grinned, before diving head first into the small mountain before him.

[Time skip]

"So, what do you think of the team I formed, Penny?" Yugi asked as he looked at his fellow, and new, teammates.

"Well," she sighed, "you blackmailed Atem, tricked Mahad into thinking you actually cared for his well-being, hustled Marik and Akeifa, threatened Jason, and I believe Yami is the only one who actually wants to be here. It's quite a team."

"You said I needed six,. You never verified how I obtained them."

"My mistake. Next time I'll be more clear."

"That's all I ask," Yugi replied sitting down on the other side of Yami.

"Well, as you're all probably aware, I know nothing about Cross Country. So, into the building! We're going to watch a movie about it. It's called McFarland, USA."

"Where's that?" Akeifa asked.

"You don't know where the USA is? That's so weird, considering you live in the Country," Yugi teased.

"I meant McFarland, you jerk!"

"No idea, but I'm sure it'll tell us in the movie. Come along, children," Penny said ushering Yugi ahead of her, and efficiently separating him from the rest of the group. Yugi just laughed, that had been too good to pass up.

They all sat in some dark classroom, Yugi pulling his chair to the very back, so he wouldn't have to be by anyone. He turned the chair around, and sat in it backwards, so he could lean again the wall if he wanted. Penny started the movie, and told everyone to be quiet while they were all educated.

About halfway through, Yugi got bored, and put his headphones in. He turned it to Escape the Fate, Escape the Fate deluxe edition, Massacre. Good tempo to start off. Nice bass and drum action, with a start of a throaty growl, before they started to sing. You couldn't really understand the words, but it didn't matter, the sound itself was relaxing to him, enough so, that he actually fell asleep. The headphones still in his ears.

A bright light awoke him, and City of Sin was playing. Oh, he really liked this song too. Still Penny, was talking in the front, so he supposed he should take out the headphones before he got caught. He stowed away his iPod, and Headphones, thinking he had been sneaky with it. Looking up though, he found Penny glaring at him with pursed lips. Not sneaky enough.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Let's start with you," she whispered in her oh-so-dangerous voice.

"Bring it!"

"What do you do when running up a hill?"

"Head down, and lean forward. The only time you will use this technique is when running up a hill. You sure you want to play this game?"

"Atem!" the person in question jumped at the sharp tone.

"Yes?"

"How are the points scored in Cross Country?"

"By the top five runners," he answered immediately. She motioned for him to continue. "The top five runners…score?"

She sighed before rounding on McCinney. "Uh, isn't that it?"

"Oh wow," Yugi muttered. "Lowest score wins. The top five runner's scores will be collected, and the group with the lowest score wins. Kind of like…golf?"

"How is it possible for Yugi to know what the answers were? He put his headphones in halfway through, _and_ fell asleep."

"What can I say? True stories bore me. I mean, come on, it's _Disney_. If it didn't have a happy ending it wouldn't be true magic!" he sneered. "So, did they win?"

"If you had stayed awake, you would know," Marik shot at him.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"You know, it's a real pity you didn't stay awake. You could have seen what _true_ _bonding_ looked like," Atem said. Yugi gagged back at him. "Whatever."

"This is a team, Mr. Mutou, and I expect you to start cooperating with it." She sighed, rubbing her temples. "Though, we do face a problem, there are no hills nearby."

"Sure there are!" Yugi perked up excitedly.

"You know where a hill is?"

"Yeah! And when you reach the top…oh, the stars…you could reach up a grab one from the sky." Yugi got this far off look on his face. Compared to his other looks, you'd think they would be okay with it. No, everyone in the room scooted their chairs further away, Atem dragging Yami back with him. They were used to his looks of murder and revenge, this one though, it creeped them out to a whole new degree.

He closed his eyes sighing. When he reopened them he found everyone much further from him than before. "What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Mahad answered for all of them. He looked over at Penny, but she just shrugged.

"So, this hill of yours? Where is it?" Akeifa asked hesitantly.

"Later, we need to work on your running, and what are your diets like?" Yugi brushed off getting up.

"Uh, a normal teenagers?" Jason answered. Yugi walked over to the white board and uncapped a dry erase marker. He held it up expectantly.

"Uh, McDonald's?" he paused, before writing it down. He waited for the next answer.

"Wendy's?"

"Burger World?"

"Culver's." Yugi capped the marker and turned around.

"Fast food? That's it? That's all you eat?"

"Well, no, sometimes we eat Chinese too," Yami said thinking he was being helpful.

"That's still fat food."

"Fat food?"

"I meant fast. Okay, you all need to change your diets, effective immediately. I want you to start eating meat, real meat, not preprocessed. You also need to introduce yourself to rice, beans, water, milk, fruits, and vegetables, in short, just cut out all junk food. They're going to be your new best friends. You need to carbo-load. Protein. These are the sources of energy." He paused before another thought came to him. "How much water do you drink a day?"

"A couple of mouthfuls?" Mahad said.

Yugi blew a fuse. "YOU'RE ON THE TRACK TEAM! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU GET AWAY WITH ONLY A FEW MOUTHFULS?!"

"Yugi sit and breathe," Penny said calmly.

"But-they-I!" he couldn't even form a sentence, just words.

"Sit."

He growled, before sitting, seething quietly. No wonder they never won every place. A couple of mouthfuls and fat food was all they ate. Did they even work out? Running wouldn't be enough to get noticed by any scouts. They were going to be in for a rude wake up call. He was going to whip them into shape, even if he had to whip them himself. Like a hound on their heels.

"So, does everyone understand?"

Yugi watched as everyone murmured Okays and yesses, to whatever it was Penny had said. He nodded his agreement too. Penny looked over at the clock and told everyone to head home. Atem, Yami, and Mahad volunteered to walk him home. He sneered at the offer, and plugged his headphones into his ears.

A second later, one was yanked out of his ear, and Yugi watched as Atem put it in his own. He scrunched his face up at the song. Yugi grinned, didn't he like Escape the Fate? He flipped to another song. There's No Sympathy for the Dead. If he didn't like Lost in Darkness, he definitely wasn't going to like that one. Atem's eyes furrowed as he listened to the new song. Yugi waited for it, and he wasn't disappointed. Atem yanked the headphone out just as the chorus started.

"How can you like that trash?"

"It's not trash. It's art. Clearly, you have no respect for it. Here, try this one." He changed it to Until we Die. Atem looked apprehensive as he popped the earpiece back into his ear, but at least he did it.

Yugi hummed along with it, shocking all of them. Who would have thought that such a violent person would have such a sweet sounding voice? He was at his home, so he tried to get his earpiece back, but Atem waved him off. Oh, he wanted to listen to the entire song huh? Well, tough. He unplugged his iPod from his headphones, effectively pausing the music. He then went inside coming back out a moment later with the CD Ungrateful. He handed it to Atem, who took it with a confused look on his face as he handed Yugi back his headphones.

Yugi went back inside and into his room again. He blinked, not having noticed it before. How he couldn't was beyond him, but his entire room was painted a cranberry red. For those of you who don't know, cranberries are pretty dark, so it almost looked like blood, but was just a shade away from actually looking like it. His wooden chair had been replaced with a roll around plastic and cloth one too. And there was a boom box on his nightstand. He walked over to it, and put one of his Red CDs in. Innocence & Instinct. The music filled the room, it worked. He fiddled with it, amping up the bass, and turning down the tenor. He jumped up onto his bed, mimicking playing a guitar.

"Oh! This is so awesome!" Yugi yelled.

"We're glad you like it!" someone shouted.

Yugi turned around, somehow tripping on his blankets and falling off the bed in a tangle of limbs. He untangled himself and turned down the sound, before turning to the door. The female was standing there, looking so happy.

"Yeah, it's cool. Thanks."

"You're welcome," she said before telling him dinner was ready.

"Uh, yeah, I'll be right there."

She nodded and left. He turned off the boom box, and threw his blankets back onto his bed. He went out to the kitchen to see only two places set. He looked over at the time to see it was 7:36 pm. The female motioned for him to sit. So he did, and she put food on both plates, before sitting down with him. They ate the enchiladas, Yugi have seconds and thirds. The food was so good.

When they were done, Yugi put his plate into the dishwasher and wandered into the Livingroom. He sat down on the edge of the couch to see them watching a movie. It was some cartoon with robots. He had no idea what it was called. He looked away, feeling a little dumb.

"Yugi," the male said softly. He turned to look at him.

"Do you want to go for a run with me?"

"Oh no, I have to wait a half hour. It's not good to run on a full stomach. Bad for the digestive system."

"Okay, maybe tomorrow night then?"

"Uh, sure? Wait, why do you want to run with me?"

"Well, I figure, if you like running so much, I should find out why. What better way to do that than to run a couple of miles with you? No one else, just us."

"Ah yeah, alright." He hadn't expected such a complicated answer. "So does this mean I'm not _grounded_ anymore?" his eyes twinkled with amusement.

"According to my wife, you never were to begin with. You're 17 she says, we can hardly ground an almost grown man."

He threw back his head laughing. That was a first for him. People still always tried.

"Let me let you in on one of the most valuable lessons of life."

"Uh, okay."

"Happy wife, happy life."

"Dude, that's not a lesson, that's fact."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Well, I have an early day tomorrow, so goodnight."

"Wait, don't you have homework?" Ryou asked.

"So?"

"Uh…"

"Do your homework first please," the male requested.

"Fine."

He wandered into his room, shutting the door, turning on his music, and blasting it through the room. He then got started on his homework. It was incredible. It didn't take him a couple of hours, but rather only half of one. Maybe he shouldn't procrastinate. He got done much quicker. Cool, but it was going to be a hard habit to break. Even he knew that. He sat back in his chair, listening to Shadows. It was a nice song, soft tempo, nothing really hardcore.

You know, it actually sounded like it belonged with one of those fangirl slideshows on YouTube. You know the ones he was talking about. They had a bunch of lovey dovey pictures in them. Yeah, he'd seen a few. What? He sometimes got bored on the internet. Don't judge.

He sighed, getting up, and turning the song on again, turning down the sound, as he lay down on his bed. Tomorrow was going to be something. They didn't have track, but Yugi was curious how Atem took to his kind of music. Probably not well. As far as he knew, he was the only one within fifty kilos who even liked that band. Or knew who they were. Red too was in that category. Sampson only knew about them, because he hadn't shut about them.

He listened to the song a couple of more times, drifting off to sleep. He faintly recalled turning it off before totally losing himself to sleep though. Then he was gone. Practically one of the sleeping dead.

 **I've surprised myself. I went back and read a few chapters of one of my old stories. I've come a long way from not liking cussing to using it in my own stories. Wow, I don't even know that uptight person anymore. Well, let's see, questions? Nope! So, thank you to everyone who are/have following/favorited this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review! Midnight ;p**


	7. Safer better alone

**I just saw Mockingjay pt 2. It was Awesome! I do not own Yugioh or any of the songs used in this story, enjoy!**

Chapter 7

Yugi stared with hard eyes at his track mates. He had long since put in headphones, trying to blow them up it would seem like, with how loud they were turned up. Still, it was better than listening to their pathetic whining. They sounded like a bunch of girls. No, worse than girls. He wasn't sure what was worse than a girl, but he was going to find out.

It was Friday, and if the week hadn't been bad enough, well, today was like the cherry on top of it. He met up with Atem on Tuesday to get his CD back, only to find it broken in half. His Aunt had been over, called it Satan's sound and broke the CD in half. He had apparently asked his Dad for advice, and he said to bury the remains and act like he had no idea what Yugi was talking about.

Atem seemed to be more intelligent than that, and handed over the pieces to Yugi that morning. He apologized profusely, and when Yugi raised his hands to take the CD back from him, flinched. Yugi was in too much shock to smack him though, he told him he'd get to that later. Atem said he looked forward to it.

He came in Wednesday with a new Ungrateful CD by Escape the Fate. He'd talked to Sampson, against his Father's wishes, and he bought another one from him. Yugi took the new CD and smacked him over the head. Not with the CD, he didn't want to risk damaging the case. He asked what that was for, and he simply replied by saying yesterday.

That day he had worked his team mates to the bone, they couldn't even walk home. Had to get rides. Bunch of pussies. All he had them do was some warm up exercises. If they couldn't even take those, well, he really needed to toughen up his team. Like Penny said, she didn't know anything about Cross Country. She was just a counselor after all.

So today, he'd had them stretch and do a couple of the exercises he had them do Wednesday. Then he took them off campus and they were running a couple of miles. After two he had looked behind him to find no one there. So he had gone back, to find them all resting a mile and a half back. He had yelled his aggravations at them. That's when the whining had started. It had been five minutes now, and they were still going at it. He ripped out his headphones.

"ENOUGH! I didn't put this team together to lose. I put you together, because I believed you to be the best Domino High had to offer. Don't you get it? Running is more than just breaking records. It's about going the distance, running that one more mile because you feel like you can't, flying, and being free. Honestly, if I knew you were going to be such complainers I wouldn't have even bothered. You can stay here if you want, but I'm going on to the tree line."

"What tree line?" Akeifa asked.

"The forest."

"THE FOREST!?" Penny screeched.

"Yes."

"No." she said firmly. "You've been forbidden to go within five miles of that place unless you-"

"Have company," Yugi finished for her motioning at his track mates.

"No, we need to build up to that distance first. I know you can run for two days straight, Yugi. We've seen you do it. But they're not used to that. They don't have that kind of stamina. We need to work up to that."

"Fine, then what do you suggest? They can't even run a mile. They need to be able to run at least 3.5 before November. We're never going to make it. We'll be some big joke!" he paused before adding on, "and your wrong, I can run for three."

"I honestly don't know."

"Well, that's just great!"

"Come on, get up," Yami said standing to his feet. Yugi cocked an eyebrow at him.

"No, we're too tired," Akeifa complained.

"Yeah, maybe if we had just stretched and then started running, it would be fine. But he had us do some of those warmups from the other day again," Marik added.

"So?" McCinney asked jumping to his feet. "We're a track team! We should be able to handle long distances. And I know you two are just high jumpers, but that takes endurance too!"

"Yeah, can't we at least run one mile?" Mahad jumped in.

"One mile out, one mile back," Yami nodded.

"Well, you're halfway there," Yugi muttered. "Alright," he raised his voice, "Everyone who actually wants to do this, follow me. The rest of you can limp home. You'll be replaced by tomorrow. Make no mistake about that. I have no use for deadweights, and if that's what you're going to be, you're better off just kicked off the team. You don't have to be here, you _chose_ to show up. Let's go!"

Yugi started to run down the road again. He didn't turn around to see who was following, and who wasn't. He'd find out when they made the one mile mark. One out and one back. It was more of a jaunt than a run, but whatever. Maybe he did need to loosen up or something? Clearly drill sergeant wasn't working. Maybe a different approach? But what? That was the question. Maybe, he could ask the male for some tips. They'd been running every night together so far. It was different, but acceptable. Maybe he could get some tips on a different approach though. He had a feeling he was going to need one.

Yugi ran to the point of where he knew the mile ended, and stopped. Alright, so he stopped at 1.3, but they would never know the difference. As long as he kept his mouth shut. He turned around, and saw…his entire team. Amazing, you get the weak things to stand up, and the strong follow. It was stunning, to a point.

"See, that wasn't so bad, right? Now come, let's go back."

"Can't we breathe first?" Atem asked.

"You are breathing. Now come on, there's no rest for the weary."

He took off running back to the school. Whether they were following or not was their business. He'd be lying if he said it didn't matter to him either way. He'd been bluffing when he said he'd find replacements. There wasn't any, but they didn't need to know that. Not once glancing back he made his way to the school, and over to where the community drinking fountain was. Six faucets, he'd drink last. It didn't matter to him though, he'd gone two days without water once.

They were panting as they walked over to the fountain, and drank the water, guzzling it. Yugi made a sound of disapproval, and Marik looked over at him in annoyance. He stopped drinking and straightened up, wiping his hand across his mouth. "What?"

"You shouldn't guzzle the water. Guzzling it only makes you thirstier. Here, try this." He leaned down and turned the faucet back on. He took three slow and steady gulps of the water before pulling away. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he motioned for Marik to drink. He narrowed his eyes at him, before drinking like Yugi had shown him. He pulled away five steady gulps later, a look of surprise on his face.

"How…?"

"It's a hard lesson for anyone to learn, but it really does work. One of my foster brothers taught me that once. I sometimes genuinely miss them."

"Him," Marik corrected.

"Hm?"

"You miss him. You said them."

"Heh, I had more than one foster sibling, Crayzee. I miss them."

"So why'd you leave?"

"I…doesn't matter." He started to walk off.

"Why not?" Marik persisted following him.

"It's in the past. The past never matters once it's become history."

"Who told you that? The past always matter, especially when it's our own."

"I wish I could believe that, but I don't."

"So, what's next?"

"Heh, you want more?"

"Not really, but you do have us until 5:00, and it's only 4:30."

"Okay, how about some weight lifting? Building up those muscles you don't use on a daily basis."

"Thanks, Marik!" Akeifa said.

"Anytime, buddy, anytime."

"Come on you lot, back into the building."

Yugi led them inside and to the weight room. He removed his shirt, and threw it in the corner before heading over to one of the weight bars. He hadn't thought anything of it really, before there was a collective gasp. He turned to look at them over his shoulder.

"One of you want to spot for me?"

"Yugi, is that a cattle mark on your back?" Atem asked.

"Huh?" he looked down his shoulder, even though he knew he wouldn't be able to see it. "Oh, that. Yeah, it is. It's been there for longer than I can remember. It's still says 1NM right?"

"Yes," Mahad answered.

"Alright, then let's get started."

"Yugi, you've been branded," Atem pointed out.

"No kidding."

"How can you take that so lightly?"

"Like I said, it's been there from before I can remember. It's hard to get upset over something you can't even remember how you got. Spot for me?"

"Sure."

He put 100 pound weights on each side, and slid underneath the bar. Atem took the position over him, standing behind the weights. His eyes widened at Yugi's toned front. He had a six pack, and pectorals. Yugi smirked, "See something you like?"

His eyes snapped away from his body and to his face. He shook his head, looking back over his shoulder at something. Yugi assumed it was boyfriend. Probably trying to see if he had been caught staring at something that wasn't him.

"You're a…pretty fit," Atem got out turning back to him. Helping him lift the weights slightly back onto the bar. Yugi lifted them off again.

"Yeah, beating you up, it helps to keep me toned," Yugi answered as Atem was helping him again. But at his answer he let them fall again on his chest, before walking away. Yugi chuckled, lifting the bar up himself, and putting it back onto its holder. He lifted six more without any help, before getting up, and moving towards the sandbags. He put on some gloves, before laying into the bag.

By the time he was done, his muscles were sore, he was dripping in sweat, and two hours had passed. He turned back to the room expecting to find it empty. He was therefore shocked when he saw everyone else still working out. Even the little weak things were doing crunches.

"Uh, it's been two hours. You guys should have left hours ago," Yugi said. There was a collective pause, before everyone looked over at the clock. They all started to laugh, which baffled Yugi. He just shrugged it off though, grabbed his shirt, and wiped the sweat from his face with it. He discarded the gloves, and walked towards his locker two floors down. He needed to grab his books, and get home. He wondered briefly what was for dinner, what he female had made.

"That was actually kind of fun," Yami said coming up behind him.

"Hm," Yugi responded.

"We should do it again every time we practice!"

"Sure."

"But Yugi, that mark on your back. It looks like it grew with you, it looks stretched I mean."

"What's the point, Sennen?"

"I don't know. I guess…why would someone do that?"

"This world isn't all about Princes and Princesses. It has villains too. I've met more than my fair share of them. A villain did this, Yami. That's all there is to it."

He explained it in the best way he could before walking at a faster pace away from him. Princes and Princesses? What the hell? What had made him use that analogy? He grabbed his books from his locker before going back to his temp home. He didn't see any of his track mates on the way, probably stopped to shower at school first.

He walked in the door, and the female, who was pacing the area in front of it, placed her hand over her nose. Yugi laughed as he approached her. "What's the matter? Don't you think I smell like roses?"

"No, go shower," she ordered pushing him away.

He laughed loudly as he went to his room to do that. He took a quick shower before heading to the kitchen. The female ate with him again. This was actually becoming a regular thing. She would have two hot plates for when he came home late, and eat with him. Tonight it was barbecue chicken, with extra barbecue sauce. They had peas and carrots along with fresh rolls. Still hot too, as if they just came from the oven only seconds ago.

They did small talk. School, weather, how the team was coming, easy conversations. Then came the question he was expecting.

"Yugi…"

"Hm?"

"I noticed when you came in there was a scar on your back. A 1NM, what does that stand for?"

"I wish I knew, but I'm just as clueless as you."

"Was it painful?"

He shrugged, "it's hard to describe an amount of pain for something you can't even remember."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," she said sadly reaching for his hand. He took it off the table. There she went, full Mother mode. It was making him uncomfortable, and was therefore a little relived when she backed off. "I think maybe you and my husband should go on your run now."

Yugi nodded, getting up. He cleaned his plate of his 3/4 eaten food. He walked into the living room, where the male was already getting his shoes on. Yugi said he'd meet him outside. He grabbed his own shoes and put them on outside. He reached his hand up his back towards the middle, between his shoulder blades. His fingers barely brushed over the ridges of the mark in his skin. A hand clapped his shoulder, and he looked up, dropping his hand.

They took off running, the two of them. Yugi dwelling on the mark on his back, something he hadn't thought about in years. After a while, the male broke the silence. Talking about his work day. He knew he was trying to distract him, and he had to admit it was working. This man, he knew his past though. He probably knew what it meant too.

"So I told George that maybe he should-"

"What does it mean?" Yugi asked cutting across him.

"We could never figure it out."

"Did my parents tell you? You know, when you guys took me from them?"

"No, they never said a word."

He nodded. Dropping the subject and asking what he told Officer Kodai to do. He smiled, sadly, and continued his story. By the time they got back to the house, neither was in really high spirits. But that was to be expected, with the subject they had discussed on their run. Yugi said goodnight to the rest of the household, before heading into his room.

He yanked his shirt over his head, and opened the closet door to look in the mirror. He flexed, the muscles rippling beneath his skin. He looked down at his body, disgusted with what he saw. _See something you like?_

Yugi rushed to the bathroom, and got sick. He couldn't believe he had actually said that. He began to dry retch, even though there was clearly nothing else coming up. He stumbled to the sink and rinsed out his mouth. He grabbed the soap, washing it out. He rinsed his mouth out until the last traces of the soapy suds were gone. He sunk to the floor, laying down on the cool tiled surface. His cheek pressed against it. He let a few tears loose from his eyes.

Disgusting, he was disgusting. A little nobody born in a world of nobodies would always remain a nobody. He pounded his fist into the ground once, before pushing off of it. Walking back into the room, he laid down on the bed, and almost promptly went asleep.

[Time skip]

Yugi ignored everything as he filed away the CDs on the shelf. Even when Sampson tried to talk to him, trying to pass the time, he turned his head away. He wasn't really in the mood for talking. He gave up after a third attempt, and instead turned up the music. He worked the day away, way past what Sampson told him he had to. When he figured he was done, he left, walking away. He didn't head home, he headed in the opposite direction.

His walk slowly turned into a run, as he just kept going. Running, it was what he did. When something bothered him, he ran from it. He kept going, running further and further away from the subdivisions, the people, the civilization as a whole. Until he was among trees, that were both familiar and strange to him. A love and a hatred. He stopped at the bottom of hill, collapsing to his knees. Curling up into a fetal position.

Yugi raked his hands down his face, his blunt nails scraping at the skin. Leaving red marks going vertically down. He screamed. Yelling all of his frustrations to the high heavens. He knew, _knew,_ he was breaking his four year patrol just by being here, but didn't care. He ripped grass from the hill, throwing it behind him.

What was _wrong_ with him? Why couldn't he just be normal? Why couldn't he have been born into a real family? One that hadn't abused him. You could call him many things, but stupid wasn't one of them. He knew that they had abused him in some way. Physically definitely, mentally came from that first abuse. Where else was the disgust, not just with other's bodies but his own as well, supposed to come from. If not from that? He started to shake, trembling all over, why him? Why!?

"Yugi." The voice was so quiet behind him.

He turned to see Officer Kodai with the male lingering behind him. Neither were looking at him though. He turned back around.

"I don't want to," he said wrapping his arms around himself.

"You're not supposed to be here, come on," he was using that same soft voice.

"I feel safer here."

"I know. But we need to go back."

"I promise to attend school."

"No. You need to come with us."

"But…"

"Please, I don't want to put you out," there was a slight under tone of begging in his voice.

"I…five more minutes?"

"Okay, but then you need to move."

He nodded. Looking over his shoulder he saw them both walk away, but not out of sight. He turned back to the hill, placing his hands on it, trying to draw courage from the nature around him. The courage to walk back into hell's open arms.

He hated socializing. There was only one time that he could recall actually putting up with it. He did it for Kitty-Kat and Twins. Even that had failed though. It had failed, and he had come here. Safety, home, better to be alone. Safer…better…alone. Safer…better…alone. He slowly stood up. Safer…better…alone. He walked towards the officers. Safer…better…alone. They walked back to one of their Police cars. Safer…better…alone. Mr. Freshalls got in the driver seat, and pulled away, driving him back to either the temp home or the Orphanage. Safer…better…alone.

He was on autopilot. Walking up the steps and into the building. Soft hands guided him to a chair, where he was forced to sit. There was a meal in front of him. He ate it. Soft hands guided him again to a different area. They helped him to put on some pajamas, and then tucked him into a bed. They handed him some tablets and a glass of water. He took them without question. A few minutes later he was out like a light. Sleeping pills. Safer…better…alone.

[Time skip]

Yugi woke up, wanting to beat his head against a wall. Any wall. He just couldn't believe he had broken down like that yesterday. He paused before hopping onto his computer. He checked the date, yeah, yesterday. He looked at the time. 6:41 am, he groaned, running a hand down his face.

He sighed, picked up his iPod and plugged in to some 12 Stones. Only Human. It was an easy tempo. The words easy to relate to. He put it on repeat and lost himself to it. He began to get ready for the day. Slipping out the window, instead of going through the door. He left a note on the bed though. A ripped sheet from one of his notebooks. _At_ _Sampson's_ it said. The male would know what he meant. Hopefully.

Yugi showed up at the same time Sampson did. He paused, in opening up the store before shrugging and waving him inside. It was silent between them, before Yugi spoke up.

"I'm sorry."

"You were upset, anyone could clearly see that," he waved off.

"Did you call them?"

"Are you mad?"

He shook his head, "No. They would have figured it out on their own even if you hadn't told them. Might have taken them longer though…"

"I see," he nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. I just want to push it behind me. Forget all about it."

"Okay, so how about those Cardinals? They're doing pretty well this year, right?"

Yugi laughed, just right out laughed at him. "Football? Is that seriously the first thing that popped into your head?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, just a little odd from you. I was expecting an inappropriate question to be honest."

"I can supply that."

"I know, that's a problem. So they're at what 7-3 this year?"

"Actually, it's 8-2."

"Ooo, they're moving up in the world."

"So are the Bengals and Panthers. They're doing really well for mediocre teams at best. I mean usually, those two teams are the teams you send players to when they're trying to learn how to play football. This year though, they actually seemed to have recruited real players."

"Why? What are they at?"

"Well the Bengals are 8-2 too, and the Panthers are 10-0. They're definitely teams to watch."

"Dang, where did all the talent come from?"

"Don't know, but they scored more than their fair share of it."

"I'll say," he whistled low as the door opened behind him.

"Out!" Sampson ordered before he could even turn around.

"What?" he heard Akeifa ask.

"Out, all of you, now!"

"Look we're just here to-"

"I don't care what you're here for, get out of my establishment right now," he growled.

The door dinged again as they left. Yugi let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. A hand clapped on his shoulder.

"You good?" Sampson asked.

Yugi nodded muttering a thank you. Sampson gave him a lot of work after that. Anything to keep him busy, and his mind distracted. When the day was done though, his thoughts were only on one thing. The CD he was about to get. He was very twitchy as Sampson handed him the CD. He clutched it his chest, it was his, _his_!

"I'll come back Thursday to tell you about every song!" he yelled running out the door.

He ran all the way back to the Freshalls, where he burst into the living room. He jumped around, spinning, he was so giddy. "Look, look, it's mine, it's finally mine! Hate Me deluxe edition by Escape the Fate!" he stopped spinning to present the CD to them. It was then that he discovered they had visitors. Some of which were trying not to laugh. "Uh, I mean check it, I got the new CD. Cool right?" he tried to play it off, knowing already that he had failed. "Well, I'm just gonna be in my room listening to it." he started to walk back towards his room.

"Oh, where's a camera when you need one?" he heard Atem ask.

He shut his door and put the CD into his new boom box, waiting for the first song to come on. According to the CD it was called…Just a Memory. Slow start. Guitar, and drums. Screaming throat singing. Some yelling and swearing. There, they started to actually sing, but with some deep throaty growls thrown in too. He started to focus on the words, not really feeling a connection with them though.

Live for Today came on. Another slow start. Guitar and drums, with a little bit of keyboard added in. Singing. Hmm, now this one, he could feel a connection forming. If only a small one. He nodded his head with the music slightly. It flowed flawlessly into the next song.

The singing started right off. He leaned in towards the boom box. He words pulling him in, drawing him closer. He looked down at the CD, Remember Every Scar. He was going to listen to the rest later. Right now he needed to get some proper sleep. He felt that maybe Sampson had overworked him a little today. Eh, it was worth it. Still if he listened to every song today, there would be nothing to look forward to tomorrow.

With that thought in mind, he turned off the boom box, and started to get ready for bed. Basically just putting on some sweats and taking off his shirt. He lay down across the bed, hands behind his head, he closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep. Tomorrow was going to be hell.

 **No questions. Sorry if I offended anyone's football teams. Thank you to everyone who are/have following/favorited this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	8. He really belonged

**Ah ha, finally. Done with this chapter. I do not own Yugioh or any of the songs used in this story, enjoy!**

Chapter 8

Yugi walked slowly to school. His headphones in, but not on. He was on the alert for the most annoying things in his life right now. The things he had tolerated for the past week. He didn't feel like it today though, and if they even attempted at breaching his personal bubble, they were going to find that out. The hard way, for they never learned anything easily.

Flawless. It was the thought that passed through his mind as he felt someone grab his elbow. He froze, tensing up, hand curling into a fist. "Let me go," he ordered.

"No," Atem said stupidly back. "I want to know what was up with-"

It all happened so fast for him. Yugi jerked his elbow out of his supposedly tight grip, and swung around, plowing his fist into his left cheek. He was on the ground in seconds. Yugi lent down, and grabbed his hair, yanking his head back to look at him. "When I give you an order, I expect it to be obeyed, got it?"

"Ow, let go, you're hurting me!"

Yugi let his hair go, only to plow his foot into his stomach, twice. He cried out, curling up in pain, his hands flying to his stomach as if to protect it from further damage. "Bloody swine," he said spiting on the ground by his head.

"Why?" Atem asked in a whine. There was fear, anger, and confusion in his eyes as he looked up at him. Yugi looked back down at him with eyes harder and colder than ice itself.

"You're pathetic, and I don't feel like tolerating you today."

"Is that all you've been doing? Tolerating us?"

"Oh good, there are some brains in there. Bye."

"Yugi. Yugi! YUGI!"

He ignored him as he continued to scream his name. His voice couldn't mask theirs though. The untied yell of his name by four voices. He wondered briefly if they would take him home, or help him to school. What did he care though? He was bound to give him the space he felt he deserved now. That was the only thing that mattered.

Yugi drummed his fingers on his desk, completely bored. Class had started nearly a half hour ago, and since he had seen none of his track mates, he assumed they took the pussy home. Thus he was quite shocked, when the door swung open, revealing them carrying Atem inside.

"Atem!" their Sensei jumped into action. "What happened to you?"

"I was jumped, about three blocks away from school."

"Oh my, by who?"

"I don't know, I'd never seen them before. They took my money and ran off."

"You need to go see the Nurse."

"No, I'm," he winced probing at his jaw slightly, "fine."

Yugi's eyes narrowed. He should only be bruised. Precision, that was in every swing of Yugi's hits. Only bruises, no fractures, breaks, or shatters. Those were the rules he'd been taught, but he'd also been taught how to do those other things too. Had he actually missed, and fractured his jaw? No, impossible, but… The way he had just probed it. It made Yugi uneasy to say the least.

Their eyes connected and Yugi looked away. He wasn't going to apologize. He was going to give him a personal check-up though. No way was he getting in trouble for busting bones in a jaw. He should probably check out his ribs too.

He shuddered in disgust. It meant he was going to have to feel the other up. Nothing repulsed him more. He placed on of his hands onto the top of his head, the blunt nails digging into the scalp. He heard the chair pulled out from beside him, and someone wince as they slowly sat down. He glanced over at the other, to see them already glaring at him.

"Heh, if looks could kill, I'd probably sitting in a Hospital bed with a broken arm. You're not that intimidating," Yugi whispered.

"You do remember who my father is, right?" he whispered right back.

"That's how you're gonna play this?" he lips curled into a sadistic smirk. "Hiding under Daddy's wings? Go ahead, it wouldn't be the first time I've been booked for unnecessary violence. It won't be the last either."

Atem turned to face the front of the classroom. Yugi took the time to size him up. His posture, the way he hunched over, he was determining if he really needed to feel him up or not. He knew what cracked and broken ribs looked like when you were trying to hide them. He nodded his head, and turned away. He was holding himself like he had them, but that could also be because he was unfamiliar with excessive amounts of abdominal pain.

He glanced back at him, his jaw to be more pacific. It looked normal, a faint bruise forming under the bronzed skin. Still, the way he had probed it when he had come into the room. It still put him on edge. Atem's eyes cut to him, narrowing as if to ask him _what_? He just turned his head away, not even gracing him with an answer. Just a small smile. He'd make easy prey at lunch time.

Yugi had a soft side to him. You'd never know it, with the way he acted, but he did. That soft side couldn't stand broken, fractured, or shattered bones. He needed to know if Atem had any, so he could sleep easy tonight. If he did, he'd take him to the ER himself. Even if he had to bodily drag him there. He'd stick to Atem's little story though, no need to go to the precinct for a little _accident_.

Time passed quickly after that. The lunch bell rang, and everyone was out of their seats and filing towards the Cafeteria. Which he had no idea where that was. So he just followed the crowd.

Finding Atem? Easy. Done. Getting to him though, well that was another matter entirely. It shouldn't be that hard though. Let's see, there were two weak things, and two strong people standing in his way. Three teachers in the room. He quickly disposed, err, took care of, no, distracted…yeah, distracted, the adults. He threw some food off of someone's tray at another student, before ducking in amongst a random crowd. This started a fight on the other side of the room, giving Yugi an ample amount of opportunity to hassle Atem and his friends.

He got past Akeifa and Marik by jamming his elbow in one of their guts, and knocking the other off his feet with a low sweep of his leg. He flexed his muscles at Mahad, and the kid ran off. Atem pushed Yami to the side as Yugi stalked towards them. Seriously, he was stalking towards him. Slow legged strides, as if he had all the time in the world. Yami, well he tried to put himself in between them again, but Atem just shoved him out of the way again, as he matched every one of Yugi's strides, with two shuffles backwards.

This little game ended when Atem's back hit the wall. Before he could find a way different way to escape, Yugi shot forward and gripped his arm in a blood stopping grip. "Don't move," he growled at him in a low voice. Atem became rigged underneath his hand as he released him, and lifted his hands to probe at his jaw. Atem winced, closing his eyes, and turning his head slightly away from him. Yugi eyes narrowed slightly, but didn't stop with what he was doing. He nodded, nothing wrong with the bones here. He felt placed his hands on either side of Atem's rib cage, feeling him suck in a breath. Nothing wrong here either. Seemed he just wasn't use to heavy amounts of pain was the only problem.

Yugi let a stream of hair pass through slightly parted lips, clapped a hand on Atem's shoulder, and walked away. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets. At the door to the cafeteria, he glanced back to look at the chaos he had caused. Chaos, and confusion. That was the look in Atem's eyes when theirs met briefly over Yami's hair. He turned away and went to see Penny. They needed to talk.

[Time skip]

"So, Atem's injuries this morning? O you know how he acquired them?" she asked as he entered the room.

"Didn't you hear? He was jumped by a bunch of thugs."

"Yes, I'm sure that that is the reason for his newest bruises."

Yugi plopped down in one of the beanbag chairs. She sighed, getting up from her desk and coming around to sit in the other one. She waved for him to talk. He didn't, not at first anyway. They just sat in silence for another minute or two. Then he took a deep breath and started to talk.

"You remember last Friday?"

"Yes," she said slowly.

"Well, I'm not sure if you heard, but I…I was teasing Atem."

"No I heard.'

"I asked him if he saw something he liked; after I caught him staring at me."

"Go on," she encouraged.

"I disgust myself," he whispered wrapping his arms around his legs as he drew them up to his chest.

"You regret what you said to him."

"Yeah."

"Did you let him know this? Before you attacked him?"

"No. Like he'd actually understand anyway."

"I think if you gave them the benefit of doubt, you'd be quite surprised."

"You're not gonna ask me about it?"

"Okay, why did you go the forest? You know you're not allowed there. You know what happened three years ago. You were almost put in a juvenile facility. Do you really want the judge to go through with that threat?"

"No."

"Just tell me why," she said in a sad voice.

"I feel safer there than anywhere else. I love nature. It doesn't hurt you like people do. Why can't I live _there_ , and still attend school? I promise, I'll come to school every day. _I promise!_ Just let me go back," he begged getting on his knees and pleading.

Penny sighed, and pushed off the bean bag, to wrap him up in her arms. Not many saw this side of him. This fragile and vulnerable side. His weak side. "We can't. You're still a minor. You're still our responsibility. Please, _try_ to understand this."

"I do, but I don't know how to cope with it very well. I can't be sociable. I've tried, and failed."

"So try again."

"No, it'll produce the same results," he cried into her chest, trembling slightly.

"Yugi," she gripped his shoulders and pushed him away. "Not everyone is the same. There are really good people out there. People who're willing to get to know you, if you'll just let them in. Like you did me. You just need to stop pushing them away. Why don't we try baby steps?"

"Baby steps?"

"Yes. For starters, today, I want you to apologize to Atem. You'd don't have to tell him why you beat the crap out of him, you just need to apologize for it. That's your baby step for the day."

"No, I can't do that. I'm not going to apologize for something I meant to do."

"I never assumed that you hadn't. Just apologize for it."

"Do I have to mean it?"

"Usually apologies are given that way."

"Can't I just bullshit through it?"

"No."

"Why not? He'll never know the difference!"

"I will."

"Come on, Penny."

"We're trying to focus on making friends, remember? Not enemies?"

"I'm so much better at making enemies though."

"Yes, I'm aware."

"Do you want me to do this now? Or later?"

"Now would probably be best."

"One apology, coming right up," Yugi sighed getting up. He left, giving Penny a brief look over his shoulder. She pointed, and he sighed leaving for real this time. He walked up and down the halls, looking for the main pack, before he finally found them. They appeared to be looking for something too.

"Atem," Yugi called out warily. Like he'd prefer to be anywhere but here at the moment.

He spun around at his name. "What do you want?" he spat out venom in every syllable of his voice. Yugi would have flinched, but he'd heard that type of voice before, so it didn't affect him anymore.

"I…" he trailed off as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye. They widened, and he flattened himself against the window. He wasn't the only one, Atem and his friends did so too.

"Yami," he heard Atem whisper.

Yami was being stalked by three guys across the grounds. They looked as if they were from another school. It made him wonder what on earth they were doing here.

"It's the guys from Benson High again," he heard Marik say.

Benson, huh? They were quite a ways away from home. He popped open the window, and looked for a way down.

"Those bastards, what do they want now?" Atem growled.

There was a drainage pipe to his left. If he could somehow latch onto it, he could possibly get down there. He had lived in Benson once, many bullies to be had there.

"Shit, he's noticed them," Akeifa said as Yugi looked down to see Yami starting to run. He was fast, he'd always been, but Yugi saw the guys from Benson quickly catching up. Perhaps, if Yami was calmer, he'd have a better shot of getting away, but the kid was probably scared out of his wits. What was he even doing away from the possessive one anyway? Yugi climbed up onto the window sill.

"Come on, we've got to get down there!" Atem said.

"Mutou, what are you doing?!" someone shrieked at the top of their lungs.

He leapt off the sill, and barely snagged the drainage pipe. He got it though, and quickly shimmied down it like it was a greased pole. He jumped two feet from the ground and landed in a crouch. He looked up, located Yami, and shot off to rescue the poor lion's lamb. He ran towards the oblivious trio, at least until he came up right behind them.

"…what do you say, Sennen?"

"Hey!"

"Wh-!?"

He never finished his sentence as he made the mistake of turning around, giving Yugi the perfect opportunity to kick him in the head. He went up, before crashing back down. "Get out of here, Yami!" Yugi shouted at the frightened teen. He shook his head, trembling from head to foot as the other two gorillas came barreling at him. He stepped out of the way, letting the two crash into one another. "Now!" he growled, and that seemed to do the trick as he scampered off. Now, he could deal with the problem at hand, without having to worry about the little lamb.

The two gorillas had gotten back up, and came at him again. Yugi crouched slightly in defense as the third party got back up, and decided he needed to defend his honor. Then again, if he had just been kicked in the head, he was sure he'd feel the same.

You'd think, three against one, would out number him, and he should start looking for help. But this was Yugi we were talking about. Yugi against three _angry_ people. He simply kept out of the way, and lured them into attacking one another. Son they were all on the ground, exhausted, and Yugi stood straight without a single scratch on him. He walked over to whom he supposed was the leader for the group and picked him up by the front of his collar in one hand.

"Get out," he ordered quietly. "And if you dare to step foot on my school grounds again, I'll really beat you up. Instead of just letting you beat each other up. You'll be needing an ambulance home, guarantee it."

"I thought you were dead," he growled back.

"You heard wrong," he smirked before tossing his ass back on the ground.

Yugi turned his back on the three and started to walk off. There was something he never understood. Never made sense to him, even in movies. Why did people always make a roaring sound, especially men, before charging at something or someone? I mean, it completely eliminated the point of the word surprise. Instead it said hello, here I am, I'm gonna attack now!

Yugi sighed, ducked, stepped to the side, and slammed his knee into their gut, before ending it by pushing them face forward into the ground by the back of their neck. "Pathetic," he sighed before standing up and walking off. Again. This time, he didn't try a _sneak_ _attack_ to his back. He stayed down, his pride completely shattered. His would be too, if a person three feet shorter than him, had whipped his ass.

Yugi walked along the grounds, looking right and left for anymore Benson High students. Mostly though, he was just looking for the little lamb. Good nickname for him. He was really like a little lamb. Though, virgin suited him too. It was as he was coming up on a pair for trees that he found him. He sighed in relief, wondering briefly if he had seen anything.

"Yami," he called softly.

The kid had his arms around him in a second. Crying in fear into his chest. Yugi was completely tense, a panic attack slowly rising up to take control of him. He started t hyperventilate, forcing Yami to raise his head, looking at him. Like he was seeing him for the first time. He climbed off of Yugi, but he had yet to move. His every instinct was telling him to defend, punish, attack. He couldn't though. Yami was a little lamb, just a little virgin lamb. He slowly curled up into a ball, hugging his arms around his legs. Yami kept reaching his hand out to touch him, but kept pulling it back as well, as if he wasn't sure if he was _allowed_ to touch him.

This was how Penny, a random teacher, Akiha, and the Cross Country team found them. Yugi having a panic attack, and Yami rocking back and forth, unsure what to do. There was some confusion after that, before Yami was able to tell them what had happened. Penny's head fell into her hand, as she sighed in frustration. Akiha pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing aggravation. It was going to be a long day for everyone.

Ryou and Malik showed up then, and fell at Yugi's sides. Ryou placed a hand on Yugi's arm, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to pin the boy by his throat to a nearby tree.

"Yugi, listen to us. No one's going to hurt you. You're safe here. This is a safe place." He repeated it over and over again. His voice rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Slowly his muscles unlocked, and he relaxed. He slowly turned into a reasonable person.

"Of course," Penny muttered. "Why didn't we think of that? You two were there when he was first brought to the Orphanage. You were separated when those families started to…" she trailed off as six eyes fixed onto her with a deadly glare. "It doesn't matter. It's in the past, it doesn't matter."

"What families?" Akeifa asked.

"Started to what?" Mahad followed up.

"It's nothing," Malik sighed eyes closing against all the emotions that wanted to pour out of them. Yugi saw this because he was still on the ground, and Malik just above him. Ryou probably saw it too, but the others were oblivious to it. For all they knew he closed his eyes against unwanted memories.

"I'm sorry," Penny muttered.

Yugi pushed up from the ground, swaying slightly, he latched onto Ryou for support. He then reached out his other hand to place on Penny shoulder and squeeze. Their eyes connected and a silent message was sent between them. She turned her head away, sighing. He let go of Ryou, and pushed through his classmates. He checked his watch to see that it was the last class of the day.

"Penny," Yugi started.

"That is Ms. Yoru to students you ungrateful brat!" the random teacher hissed.

"Miho, please go back to class. You're no longer needed here," Akiha said coldly.

"But he's being disrespectful!" she shrieked.

"No, he's not," Penny answered.

"How can you say that?"

"Because I gave him permission to use my first name."

"Why? He's nothing but a trouble maker."

"Um, I think we should cancel practice this afternoon," Yugi interrupted.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Penny answered scratching the back of her head. "And you're right, Miho. Yugi is the biggest troublemaker we have, but he didn't become that way overnight. I've broken through that shell, and I won't lose the trust I've gained along the way. Just because _you_ think he's being disrespectful."

"Agh!" she yelled before stomping off.

"Yugi, have you crossed that Sensei in some way?" Akiha asked jerking his thumb at her retreating figure.

"Uh, I don't know," he shrugged. "I've crossed so many…it's hard to keep track of all their names. That's why I have nicknames for people. Easier to distinguish them that way."

"Yeah, we know," Atem said sounding as if he was rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said, rolling his own eyes.

"Huh?"

"For this morning? I was in a bad mood and took it out on you. For that, I am sorry," he said turning around and bowing with an extra hand flourish.

"Yugi…," Penny growled.

"What?"

"Do you remember what we agreed on?"

"But I was being sincere."

"No, you were being sarcastic."

"I was not!" Yugi said.

"Yes you we-"

"Hey, he said it, that's what matters. I don't really care if he's sincere or not. Besides I don't think he has a single sincere bone in his body."

"Yes he does!" Ryou shouted standing up.

"Yeah, we've seen it!" Malik agreed.

Everyone turned to them. "You have?" Akeifa asked in disbelief.

"Yep!"

"When?"

"Uh, we don't like talking about it. But we have seen it."

"If you say so," Atem shrugged.

"So, what's your nicknames for us?" Marik asked pointing to each to them.

Yugi grinned widely. "Well, let's see…Ryou is Snow White, Malik is Sidekick, Akeifa is Teddy and Marik is Bear, Atem is Possessive Boyfriend, Yami is the Virgin Lamb, Mahad is Dark Magician, Jason is 6th Place, Penny is Penny, and Akiha is Vice Prince."

"And just what are we supposed to call you?" Akeifa asked in a moody voice.

"Shrimp will do," he said his grin becoming wider as he placed his hands behind his back. He hadn't been called that in ages. To be called it again, well it would almost be like being with his old brothers again.

"Shrimp?" Yami asked.

"Yeah, Shrimp," he nodded looking over at him.

"Of all the things…" Atem muttered trailing off as he held his arms open towards Yami. The latter shot into them.

"You just now thought of that?" Yugi asked raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up."

"You're just jealous cause you don't have a pair of arms to run into," Marik jibed.

"Maybe," Yugi responded, surprising them all, and looking away.

"You can join Yami if you want," Atem offered smirking at him.

Yugi flicked him off, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked off. He just walked, not really having a destination, but somehow ending up at his classroom door. He opened it, and went to the back of the classroom, plopping down in his seat. He'd get the work he missed from his other Sensei's except, he didn't know a single thing about them. Yet alone what they looked like. He'd just do it tomorrow.

He half listened to watch the teacher was saying. Something about a cult and purple Kool-Aid. None of his track mates joined the class, he assumed they had gone home. Lucky, they had no idea how lucky they were that they could actually go to a place that they _could_ call home. He lowered his eyes to the graffiti on his desk. Apparently someone named Connie liked someone named Jim. Harriet was a monster. And several Sensei's were on a student's enemy list. Most of them, Yugi had never even heard of. They really needed new desks.

When the day was finally done, Yugi got up, plugged in his headphones, and headed for the temp home. Or at least that's where he thought he was going. Surprise, his feet automatically led him to the track field. He looked down at them, apparently they knew where he really wanted to be. The bigger surprise was seeing the Cross Country team already there waiting for him.

He pulled out his headphones, "hey, didn't you guys get the memo? Practice is cancelled today."

"And yet, here you are," Mahad said.

"I was actually headed for the Freshalls, but my feet came here instead."

"Um, I'm pretty sure your feet are controlled by signals from the brain," Jason said.

"You guys still want to suit up and go? We really need to hit that hill."

"Where _is_ this hill of yours?" Atem asked.

"I have more than one Kodai. We'll be heading for the closest one."

"So let's go!" Yami shouted jumping to his feet.

Yugi snorted, before rolling his eyes. "Yeah right, you could barely run 1.3 miles, and now you want to run 7.8?"

"What do you mean 1.3?" Marik asked.

"Penny!" he noticed the Coach coming towards them. "We need to borrow your car!"

"Who's driving? None of you have a license."

"You are. Now pull it around!"

"Okay…"

"What do you mean 1.3?" Marik asked again.

"One point what?"

"Three."

"What kind of number is that?"

"Yugi."

"Alright everyone, pile in," Penny interrupted opening the back door to her car. Yugi strolled right over and hopped into the front seat. No one else moved.

Yugi rolled down the window, "well, what are you waiting for? Let's go."

"But it's a…" Atem started.

[Five minutes later]

"Bug. You own a freaking bug!"

Yugi turned around in the front seat to look at the six of them. He smiled, thoroughly amused by this. Atem was squashed between Mahad and Akeifa with Yami in his lap. Mahad had Jason in his, and Marik was in Akeifa's. They looked like a bunch of sardines, and him? Well he was in the front with an enormous amount of foot room, a generous amount of elbow space, and reclining power to make their space even more cramped. Not that he had tried. No that would have been mean. Okay, he had tried. Penny had stopped him. Still, to hear Marik's and Akeifa's protests, it had been worth it.

"Oh shut up! You were the ones that wanted to run up hills," Penny shot back.

"And why does _he_ get the front seat?" Akeifa complained.

"Because he took it."

"I call it next!" Marik shouted.

"We'll see," Yugi answered cryptically turning back around.

"I can take you, Mutou."

"Sure," he replied waving his hand. He didn't believe that in the slightest. Besides…

"No. I don't need him breaking down on me, so Yugi sits in front. Period."

There was that. It was sometimes a good thing to break down at being touched by another human being. Being in close proximity to one, where you could touch. This had to be one of those times.

"Oh come on!"

"No." there was that dangerous female final note in her voice, and no one was going to argue with it. Though he'd never admit to it, even Yugi wouldn't.

"Turn left here," Yugi said suddenly as she almost passed the turn and had to practically pull a U-Turn just to get down the right street. He knew she was confused, they were headed in the opposite direction of the woods. The point was that he just didn't care.

"I told you to give me a fair warning before making turns," she growled.

He knew she had. She had told him this the last time he had barely pointed out a right turn they'd had to flip a U-Turn in some burger joint. He just didn't care to. He came here, to this little out of the way hill, once or twice, but that had been on foot. This was in a car, so he had to go about it a different way. Even in his mind though, he could see where it was.

"I don't think he cares, Coach," Mahad pointing out.

"I know he doesn't."

"He doesn't care for much of anything, does he?" Jason asked,

Yugi whipped around to face him, leveling him with a single look. "What's your point? And you'd be wrong. There're some things I care for. Can you figure them out?"

"Violence?"

"Your really loud music?"

"Yami."

Yugi blinked at Atem's answer. "Pardon?"

"You care about, Yami. Otherwise you'd just have left him to those Benson boys."

"I don't care about him. I just don't care for people picking on others that are so obviously weaker than them. What's their beef with Yami anyway?"

"They don't really have one with Yami. It's just that Marcus Sennen put Tyler's Dad behind bars for six years for possession and merchandising. They'd never go after the Popo, so they go after Yami whenever Tyler is feeling particularly stressed."

"Next question, what was he even doing so far from your side?"

"He was looking for you. Apparently he thought you were upset or something."

"Heh, why?" Yugi asked looking away from Atem to Yami.

"Because you didn't say anything. You just felt up my boyfriend for who knows what reason, and then left."

"I was checking bones."

"Huh? Why would you do that?" Atem asked.

"The way you were holding yourself. It looked like some of them wore broken or fractured. You know, from getting jumped this morning?"

"Oh no, I think these guys knew exactly where to hit me. You know, to do the most pain, with the least amount of damage."

"Pretty clever of'em. I wonder where they learned it?"

"That is a very good question. Next time I see them, I'll ask."

"I'm sure you'll get your chance. After all, you made an easy target the first time, why wouldn't you a second?"

Atem was glaring at him, and if looks could kill… Yugi on the other hand, was getting a high amount of amusement from this. As he looked out the window to see that they were almost there. He told Penny where that there would be a dirt road coming up on her left, take that turn. She took the turn and traveled for about a quarter of a mile, before stopping at a dead end.

Yugi got out of the car before it even stopped all the way. He stretched a little, and the others copied him, confused. There was flat land and trees as far as the eye could see. "We walk from here," Yugi said turning around and heading into the dense foliage.

He heard a murmur of apprehension, before the sound of old leaves crunching underfoot was heard. He led them to a small hill, but what they didn't know, was that there was a larger one on the other side of this one. He stopped here, and waited for the others to catch up.

"Alright, we take this hill like we do running. Straight in. Heads down, lean forward, and dig your toes into the hill, not your heel. You'll get more distance that way. Everyone ready?"

"No," almost everyone said.

"Well, I'll see you at the top then."

He started the climb. He hadn't done hills for so long, he was a little out of breath when he reached the top of the small hill, he just shook it off though, and ran down the other side of it. He took the second hill at a slower pace, wanting to make the top with at least some energy left. Like he previously stated, he hadn't down hills in a while. He collapsed to his knees at the top, panting for breath. Another fell at his side, doing the same.

Yugi looked over to see Atem of all people. He was the last one he expected to make it up first. He was panting like a dog in heat. Curled up on his side, face in such obvious pain, Yugi almost felt bad for him. Almost. He got turned to him, pushing Atem onto his back, when the latter tried move back onto his side, Yugi held him there.

"Stay…like this. You'll breathe…easier."

"Why're…you helping…me?"

"Maybe because…I've pushing you…too hard."

"Aren't drill sergeants…supposed to do…that?"

"Drill sergeant?"

"Shrimp will get us…beaten up. Besides, drill sergeants are supposed…to be harsh."

"I guess."

"So where did you learn?"

"From Kitty-Kat," Yugi answered smirking.

Atem bolted up into a sitting position, throwing him an incredulous look. Yugi quirked an eyebrow at him. "You learned from a _girl_?" he asked.

Yugi busted out laughing. Falling all the way to the ground, it was that funny. Atem stared at him in a cute confused way. When he finally calmed down enough, he answered him.

"Kitty-Kat is the furthest thing from a girl, let alone being girly, on this entire planet."

He didn't know why, but he suddenly got a picture of his brother in a dress and a wig. It sent him into another fit of laughter. Short dress, hairy legs, blonde wig, he looked like he was in a freaking drag costume in Yugi's mind's eye. He added curls to the wig, and a big pink bow on top. Yugi was beating his fist into the ground, it was too good. If he ever found out Yugi had imagined him like this though, he'd probably beat him within an inch of his life. No one made fun of Kitty-Kat and lived to tell about it. Well, no except the Twins.

He sobered up quickly at the thought. He wondered briefly if they even remembered him, let alone still liked him. He sighed, falling back onto his back.

"Where are the others?"

"Uh, still climbing?"

"Right, well, don't mind me, but I'm going to ignore you now," he said pulling out a pair of headphones. He turned on Escape the Fate Hate Me deluxe edition. Let's see, where had he left off again? Oh yeah, Breaking Me Down. He focused in on the words, ignoring the insistent poking at his arm. Though, if it didn't stop, he was going to cut off the hand connected to it. He was trying to listen to his new CD here!

Yugi rolled over twice, away from the poking finger. Though, cutting it off was still option, he wasn't sure if Penny wanted to take a trip to the Hospital today. He knew he sure didn't. A shadow loomed over him as the next song came on. Glancing at his iPod, he found it to be Alive. Great, he had been so focused on the poking finger, he had completely missed the song before this one.

He looked up at the shadow above him. Nope, no one new. Still the biggest thorn in his side. No, his boyfriend was the biggest thorn in his side, this was the second. He wasn't going to demote Yami, not yet anyway. He turned his head away, and therefore, had one of earphones yanked from his ear.

"Who's Kitty-Kat?"

"Someone I once knew. Look, I don't see how it's any of your business."

"Hey, don't bite my head off," he plopped down to sit cross legged next to him. "I'm just trying to get to know you. That's what friends do, they try to get to know one another."

"We are _not_ friends. Don't even try to pretend that we are."

"Well, maybe I wouldn't have to, if you'd just let those shields of yours down every once in a while!"

Yugi rolled his eyes, before standing up, and Atem joined him on his own feet. He may have been small in height wise, but he had an intimidating aura to make up for that. He used it now, to make Atem take several steps back from him. The other backed up into a tree, as a new song came on, Les Enfants Terribles. He had this strange sense that he had missed one or two songs when he was being annoyed.

"Listen, closely," he whispered. "What I do and say, is my business. If I chose to, in the future, share my life's secrets with you, I would. You don't deserve that though, no one does. I lead a lonely life, and trust me, I don't need you to be a part of it. I've survived this long by the seat of my own hide, almost literally. If you were wise, you'd back off of this whole friend idea of yours, before you wind up in the Hospital. Or worse. Trust me when I say there are worse things I can do to you besides put you in the Hospital."

"See, I told you the top was only a few more steps…away," Penny encouraged as she made the top herself. She froze, at the stance she saw Yugi taking, and Atem backed against the trunk of a tree. "What's going on here?"

"Enjoy the stars. I'll be by the car," Yugi scowled.

"Yugi, wait," Penny said grabbing his arm. His muscles tensed beneath her grip and she immediately released him. Letting him walk away. They both knew he wouldn't be by the car when they got back down the hill, he'd most likely be halfway home. At the very least a quarter of the way there. "What happened?" he heard her hiss.

Yugi slid down the hill. Not running, but not walking either, more of an in between motion. He made it to the car, placed his hand on the handle, before shaking it off, and running back towards town. Like he had said earlier, it was only 7.8 miles. Cake walk.

[Time skip]

He was breathing heavily as he leaned against the railing leading up to the temp home. That had been a long run. The stars were out, but blinded by the street lights. The moon, you could see through the glimpses of the lights, but its shine was dimmed. He put his hand on the door, checked his watch, and then want inside.

He heard hushed voices. Arguing voices. He walked towards them, noticing the kitchen light was on. He checked his watch again, what the heck were these people doing up at 11:56 pm? Shouldn't they be in bed yet?

"I'm just saying, Mira, when George told me I was going to be bringing home a handful, I didn't think he meant it literally. I just thought he was messing with me!" the male was saying.

"And now that you know he isn't, Dilan?" the female asked back.

"I don't know…"

"What exactly is it that you find to be a handful?"

"This? Never knowing if he's coming home or not? His crazy diet? Knowing his past, and knowing I'll never be able to tell him it? His attitude and behavior? I could write a long list for you."

"You've only noticed what you want then."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Haven't you noticed anything else? Like how he only eats dinner, but no other meals? He doesn't even snack. He lives off of water and dinner. It's no wonder he's so skinny. The other day I tried to give him some store bought cookies, and he paled, like he was going to suddenly be sick or something. He turned down my offer with a small smile."

"Anything else?"

"He gets happy for small seconds, and then he's angry again. Like he's not sure if he's supposed to be happy or not. He also watches us, like he's expecting us to tell him to pack his bags at any second. Like he's expecting us to send him back to the Orphanage at any moment."

"You know, that doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

"Bite your tongue! I'll be dead before he goes back to that Orphanage!"

"I'm just saying he might be out of our control, Mira."

"No, I refuse to give up. I know everyone can learn to love, even the impossible cases."

"He's seventeen. There's not much we can change about him."

"Maybe if you just told him about-"

"No! He's better off not knowing about it. About the horrors of it all."

"But who are you to make that decision for him? Shouldn't he be able to make it for himself?"

"We're trying to protect him!"

"It doesn't seem like that. It seems like you're trying to protect yourselves from having to relive it."

"How dare you!"

"Don't snap at me! I'm just saying, it might help him to release this anger if he just knew. To move on, so to speak."

"There's nothing for him to move on from. He doesn't even remember it."

"Isn't that what he needs to move on from though? The unknown of his past? I mean, he thinks you took him from his parents. He deserves to know, more than anyone."

"Silence woman! You've no idea what the truth could do to him. None of us want to take the risk."

The female sighed. Yugi didn't move, even after there was a shuffling of feet. Even if they did come out of the kitchen, he wouldn't be seen. He was cloaked in shadows, and if he shut his eyes, he would be completely invisible.

"He really said no to these?" the male asked before he heard him munching on something.

"Yes, in a very unusually polite way."

"Hm, kid doesn't know what he's missing."

"Cheap sugar. Right?" Yugi asked stepping into the kitchen startling the two adults.

"Oh, you're home," the female smiled.

"Yeah, been so for a while now."

"Oh, well, I can warm you up some supper if you want it."

"Not hungry," he replied sitting down on one of the chairs. "I just wanted to tell you a story about a little boy. He's about four almost five, and he loved cheap sugars. Then he was taken in by a woman in her early forties. This woman believed in putting cheap sugars down in the lower cabinets where small hands could get them. She also believed that cheap sugars were bad for you, so why bother buying them at all? This little boy, he was clumsy, and also left clues behind whenever he snuck the forbidden snacks. So he was always punished. The punishment was simple enough, but to a four years old, it was very cruel. Cruel and unusual. She would lock the boy in the basement. It was pitch black down there, and sometimes he would feel four footed things run across his body at night. He screamed and begged to be let out, but his cries always fell on deaf ears. Three days and two nights he'd be in there. Time and time again, until he just stopped sneaking the cheap sugars altogether. Still, there were many other things he could do wrong, so he was always finding himself sleeping in the basement. Until an Officer came by to check on him, and the little boy was nowhere to be found. The Officer was more intelligent than the woman though, and when he called out for the small boy, he heard a shrill cry from beyond the basement door. He bust through, and rescued the boy. Still, the boy was in that house for six months. You don't forget things like that. They're engraved in your mind for forever. I don't eat cheap sugar. Get why now?"

He stood up abruptly and walked out of the room. He walked into his room, and packed up his bag. Without even looking back, he climbed out of the window and ran back to the Orphanage. If he was such a problem, he'd relieve their stress. There was no sense in them getting early grey hairs over something he could do to prevent it. Besides, he'd rather go back himself, then be driven back by them. It hurt more when they brought him back, then when he just left himself.

He knocked on the big wooden door, and it took a little while, but finally the door opened. The Director sighed at seeing him, but stepped aside and let him in. Yugi walked in like he owned the place. A small child stuck his head out of one of the doorways, and squealed, waking others. Soon, he found himself surrounded by little kids.

He smiled slightly, as he recognized most of them, but there were one or two new faces among the crowd. He coaxed names out of them, Amelia and Stephan. He introduced himself as Yugi the Runaway. They giggled at that, thinking he was probably being funny. They would learn though, everyone did. He walked into his shared room. Lazy eyes from six other beds opened to look at him. They shut again, not at all surprised by his presence. He slipped his bag under his bed, and climbed between the scratchy sheets, and thin blanket. He closed his eyes, getting the best night of sleep he'd had in weeks. He was in his real home. The only place he really belonged.

 **You know NyxAria I wasn't sure if anyone was going to notice that. I thank thee for commenting on it. You just made my night. And you'll see. They'll make their appearance** **soon enough. Anyhoo, thank you to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Also, thanks to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Please review! Midnight ;p**


	9. Gears slowly start to turn

**Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you're having a good holiday. I do not own Yugioh or nay of the songs used in this story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 9

"Yugi." Her voice was sharp behind him.

"I'm not in the mood."

"Well, maybe you need to get in the mood."

He whirled around to face her, "why?! Why should I care how they feel? They haven't cared for how I feel. Not really!"

"That's bullshit, and we both know it!"

"Is it? Then why buy me cheap sugars, even when they know I don't eat them? _Why_? When she commented about me expecting them to take me back to the Orphanage, did he say that might not be a bad idea? If they really cared for how I felt, they wouldn't be striking me down where I'm already so _weak_. _Pathetic_. _An_ _abnormality_. They don't care! Not about me! Just their image! Like always!"

"Yugi-"

"Don't Yugi me! I'm through with them! Through!"

He ran off to class, not even caring for her reproachful words. They always went through the same thing anyway. Whenever he left, she always tried to convince him to give them another chance, he wouldn't though. He knew it would all end in disaster, so why bother? He'd just end up right back at the Orphanage again. This time sent back though, instead of leaving.

Yugi plopped own in his seat, and stared dead ahead at the wall above the chalkboard. He couldn't feel any eyes piercing into him, making him frown and drop his eyes. Yami wasn't in front of him. He turned his head, Atem wasn't to the side. He looked around, now that he noticed it, he didn't see any of them. Why was he the only one in the classroom? It was a Tuesday, right?

He pulled out his school planner. He never really used the thing except for checking holidays. Was today a holiday? Nope, just a regular Tuesday. So where was everybody?

"WILL YUGI MUTOU PLEASE COME TO THE AUDITORIUM? I'M NOT CALLING YOU AGAIN!" Akiha's voice hollered over the intercom.

"Oh, that's where they are," he muttered to himself before getting up and heading that way.

He slipped in through the back door, and sat in the very last row. He propped his feet up against the headrest in front of him. Since there was no one sitting there, why not? He saw the tiny speck that was Akiha huff, before standing up and giving a long spiel about bully avoidance, and how to stand up against one.

Great, this was going to make the week more interesting. He left about halfway through, slipping back out the way he came. He was shocked to see others had already done the same. Including his track team. He was about to go back in when Jason spoke up.

"This assembly isn't about you. It's about those Benson guys."

Yugi snorted, yeah, like he believed that.

"Oh, come on Jason, you can't expect Yugi to know that. He wasn't there in the first five minutes of the speech," Bakura jeered.

"Yeah, I think he noticed your lack of absence when he counted two starfish heads, and not three," Marik added.

"So, we heard you went back to the Orphanage," Yami started. "Well, at least you don't have to change schools."

Yugi flicked him off, before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking off. He didn't know why Yami was even bothering. Had he not made it clear that friends and social outings were really not his forte? Geez, what could he possibly do to get it across to the delusional kid. Seriously, _what?_

"You know they're moving you back in right now?"

Now _that_ caught his attention.

He whipped back around, " _What?_ " he hissed.

"My Dad says that Officer Freshalls and his wife are moving your stuff back into their house and are runaway proofing it as well while you're here."

"Why? What's the point? I was trying to save them some trouble."

"Trouble?" Atem asked sensing what the others didn't. He wasn't talking about his attitude or behavior.

"Yeah, the trouble of having to bring me back themselves. I mean, I'm so used to it, it doesn't even affect me anymore. But the families…I just wanted to save them a little anger, is all."

"Liar."

"What did you call me?"

"I called you a _liar_ , Yugi."

"You don't know me."

"You're right, I don't. Hell, I don't think there's a soul alive who really does. But I still think you're lying when you say it doesn't affect you. I'd even be surprised if you didn't keep track of all the times you've returned to the Orphanage. Either by your own doing, or by being carted back the same way you left."

"You're really pushing it," Yugi warned walking slowly towards him. Atem stood his ground though.

"So what's the number?"

"I don't keep track of things that are so pointless."

"What is it?"

"I don't have one."

They were in each other's faces now. Nearly nose to nose. Atem staring down at Yugi, with Yugi lifting his chin just enough to meet his eyes in defiance that he never kept track of something he knew he had. He just didn't want to admit to it. Especially not to this lot.

"Just tell us, it can't be higher than 50 right?" Atem smirked.

Yugi's eyes narrowed into slits. "Who cares? The real number doesn't matter. Like I said, I don't keep track of things that are _pointless_."

"We care, right guys?" he asked looking over his shoulder at the others.

"Nope, you're on your own with this one," Marik said as the others shook their heads. Even Yami. Yugi smirked before spinning on his heel and walking off.

"Right, well, hey!"

Yugi's smirk grew as he started to walk a little faster. The doors opened to his left, and the hallway was flooded with students. Yugi easily lost himself in the mix, but headed in the opposite direction of most. He walked up to a seemingly random door, and went through it.

He walked up three flights of stairs, before coming out on the roof. He walked over to the fence lining the roof. He'd asked Penny once why there even was a fence up here? She had told him that a student had committed suicide by jumping off the roof a few classes before his. Apparently the child had been bullied in a ruthless manner, so one day he came up here and just jumped.

Suicide, he thought about it sometimes. But he strongly believed that suicide was taking the easy way out of things. He never took the easy way out, he was too strong for that. Too guarded inside. He closed his eyes, wrapping his fingers through the chain link fence, as he pulled out his iPod. He flipped to a different CD by Escape the Fate, he scrolled down to Liars and Monsters, he started to play the song, mumbling along softly with it.

He lowered himself to the ground, and sat with his back against the fence, he crossed his ankles, and leaned his head back against the fence as well. He was oblivious to the world, allowing himself to dwell in his own mind, his own thoughts.

They were taking him back? After everything he'd done and said, they weren't…giving up? But everyone gave up. _Everyone_. Why didn't they? Maybe they were stronger than they looked. He never once thought that he would ever have to break his foster parents. The thought had never occurred to him that someone might actually _want_ him. It was absurd to say the least, but here these two were, taking him back in. No, it had to be some form of sick joke. Runaway proofing their house? He snorted, how exactly did they expect to do that?

[Time skip]

Yugi blinked as he took in his room. The door still swung outwards, it was still the same color, and the floor still creaked slightly when he walked across it. This wasn't what caught his eyes though. No, it was the window, the bathroom, and his closet. Both doors had childproof handles on them. It seemed kind of pointless on the closet, but whatever, he knew how to dismantle them. And the window had a magnetic strip on it. It was too easy, much too easy. He sighed, and went out to the kitchen for dinner.

He ate with the family in a suspiciously cheerful mood. Engaging in conversation, and acting like he belonged at the table. The female and male were overjoyed, but Ryou and Malik were staring at him as if he had grown a second, maybe a third, head. They were reprimanded by the female after a few minutes of this ongoing staring, and not eating. They shook themselves and started to eat the parmesan chicken, but kept throwing him odd looks.

They didn't buy it, obviously. Smart boys. When both of the adults weren't looking he winked at his brothers. The rest of the dinner was made by them trying to convince the other two that he was up to something. They failed, which was odd. You'd think they'd have believed their real kids over the one they were still trying to win over. But no, when Yugi looked genuinely confused by their behavior, the two just waved them off.

So simple. He left the kitchen, snagging a refrigerator magnet, and walked back into his room. He shut the door, grabbed his backpack. Who knew being forced to watch The Pacifier so many times in the Orphanage would've meant he could actually learn something from it? He opened the window, placed the refrigerator magnet on the magnetic strip, hopped out the window and went back home.

[Time skip]

This continued for three days. It was almost like _a_ _game_. Yugi had to admit, he was enjoying the hype of it, but the two just wouldn't give. He'd go to school, and then back to the temp home. That's where his stuff would be. By the fourth day though, he had become annoyed, and not given up, no he would never do that, but played the game of fine, I'll stay.

He had just come back from Sampson's, when he had decided this. Besides the female served really good food. Much better than the Orphanage's cuisine anyway. He'd stay, not for the company, but the food.

Between running away and school, Yugi still attended every track meet. Some members of it were relentless in trying to become his friend, while others just really didn't care. He was fine with it, it was a good distraction. Soon November was upon them though, and they were getting ready for the first track meet.

"Okay, now remember, when facing a hill, you lean forward, head down, and dig your toes in to get the best purchase of the ground. Keep a steady pace, and don't race ahead, we don't need any of you running out of energy halfway through. I want you to eat a couple of rice cakes before the meet. They'll give you some natural energy, and won't weigh you down with a full stomach. Don't forget to stretch, stretching is very important. When you reach the end of the 3.5 run, I want you to drink a full bottle of water. Remember though, slow and steady gulps," he was pacing back and forth in front of them. As he tried to remember everything that he had both learned and experienced over the years. "What else? Can any of you think of anything I might have missed?"

"Uh, our workout today?" Marik suggested.

"Yeah, you haven't worked us to the bone yet Sergeant," Akeifa added.

"No, I didn't forget that. We're not running today, or working out our upper body strength. The only thing I want you lot doing is resting before the big run."

"We're not running?" Yami asked as if he couldn't believe it. Yugi flicked his eyes over to his face, as well as his fellow team mates. They all looked at him in disbelief, like they'd heard him wrong or something.

"No," the answer was sharp and quick. "I need you guys in tip top shape tomorrow. You won't be there if I have you take laps today. So no exercising today. Perhaps if you were stronger, I'd allow it, but we'll see."

"Uh, question, how're we getting to this meet?" Jason asked.

"Penny rented us a small bus, right?" he asked looked behind him at the woman in question.

"Uh…" she trailed off suddenly looking uncomfortable.

Yugi sighed, "The bug, Penny's bug."

There was a giant groan of disapproval. Now, he knew why they didn't like the bug, but still, it wasn't that bad riding in it. Sure they looked like a clown car coming out of it, but hey, they couldn't all sit in the front seat. No one was stupid enough to fight him for it either, they all knew he could whoop their asses in a heartbeat. As he had proven after Marik had tried to do so. Kid had gone home, with a bruised rib, black eye, and busted lip. It was his bad decision that led to his own injuries though.

"Don't complain at me. If you have a problem with it, talk to the Coach."

"I promise I'll rent a bus for the next meet. Just bear with me for this one."

"You didn't think they'd make it through Mutou boot camp did you? Thought they'd all give up?" Yugi asked giving her a shrewd looking and crossing his arms over his chest. Penny didn't answer, but suddenly became very interested in her fingernails.

He rolled his eyes as cries of indignation sounded from his team mates. There was suddenly an uproar of complaints, and Yugi just sat down on the grass, letting it take its course. Waiting for it to die out on its own really, after all they weren't really doing anything today anyway, it was just a recap of everything they had learned so far. That was all.

He closed his eyes, unaware that he had fallen asleep until someone was shaking his shoulder. He jumped up, on full alert as he seized the arm and yanked the person onto the ground, he seized their neck, squeezing slightly before he was yanked off.

Yugi breathed heavily as if he had just run a marathon as Yami backed away from him, eyes wide in fear. His own darted around as he came to terms with what he had almost just done. He pulled himself from the person's grasp, and fell to his hands and knees. He looked up at Yami

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he gasped out.

He'd fallen asleep around them. He'd actually _fallen_ _asleep_. What the hell? He never slept around others. Ever! The only other ones he'd ever done that around were his true brothers. But that hadn't been by accident that had been on purpose. He placed a hand on his forehead, trying to fight faint images off of falling asleep in company, and being punished for it.

He shuddered, and emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground. A hand touched his back, and he seized up. Faint words were being whispered into his ear. He focused in on it, trying to distinguish what they were saying.

"It's okay, Yugi. You're okay. Nobody's going to hurt you for falling asleep. It's okay, you're okay."

He nodded, wiping his mouth, with the back of his hand. He looked back up at Yami, regret deep in his eyes as he apologized over and over again to the kid. Yami just sat there, stunned, in Atem's arms. Atem blinked, as something seemed to almost click in his mind. He could see the gears turning. As if he was taking Penny's soft words, and his reaction, and trying to fit the puzzle together. Yugi really wished he would stop. No one needed to put his broken life together.

"Stop, Atem, just stop," Yugi said a slightly begging tone to his voice.

"What?"

"Don't try to figure out my messed up life, it's not worth it."

"It's not worth it, or you're not worth it?"

"Is there a difference?"

"Yeah, actually there's a very big difference."

Yugi shook his head, standing up, swaying slightly. "Everyone go home, get rested up for tomorrow, and we'll do the best we can in this race." He walked away then, his walk turning into a run, until he was back at his temp home.

He ate with the female, turned down the male for a run, and went into his room. He flopped down onto the bed and fell asleep. His dreams were plagued with ancient screams, fears, and nightmares he hadn't had since he was a real child.

Someone was shaking him, and yelling his name. He woke scared and confused. His eyes focused on the male above him, and he screamed trying to get away, but he just grabbed him and held him in his arms. The embrace felt so foreign and yet so familiar. He'd been held like this before. Gentle arms that held no malice, or ulterior motives. Arms that felt safe. Protected. He broke down crying, onto the male's shoulder. He sighed, not saying a word, just holding him. It was really all he could do, and eventually Yugi fell asleep again, but his nightmares weren't forgotten. Nor was the midnight cry.

He went to school the next day, feeling not one bit rested. But he didn't let it show as he looked his team mates in the eyes, before they all piled into Penny's bug and were on their way to their first meet. Honestly, he didn't know what to expect, he just hoped for a win.

They were headed for someplace called Cochise. It was going to be about a half an hour drive. At least it wouldn't be too bad for the people in the back, who were already complaining about tight and cramped spaces. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't place where from. Oh well, he'd figure it out later.

They stopped at the school sooner than he thought they would. He looked at the clock in the dashboard, yeah, it's really been that long. Hm, he should get lost in his head more often, it really made time fly.

Yugi stretched as he got out of the car. There were already five other teams here. Cochise, why did that name sound so familiar? What was it about the name that just made his brain tick in an annoying way of recognition? Recognition, but out of his grasp as to why.

He tapped his foot, as he frowned, chewing on his bottom lip, trying to figure it out. Someone gave him a soft shove in a random direction, as he walked towards a relatively grassy area, where others were standing.

"Hey Sergeant, I thought we were supposed to be stretching?" Mahad asked in annoyance.

"Yeah, sure go ahead," he said waving him off.

"And so I said, I don't care if you're the Queen of Sheba, I ain't dating you!"

"Ha ha, and what did she say to that, Mutt?"

"She gave me some bullshit about how she still believed we were the perfect match for one another. I swear, that girl's skull is thicker than her brain."

Two voices in similar sounds laughed. Yugi gasped, whipping around, not at just the sounds of laughter, but at the first voice too. Cochise, of course, how could he be so stupid as to forget _that_?

He saw a mop of blonde hair, with two heads of brown hair facing him. Their eyes a bright cobalt blue, as they laughed. They hadn't seen him yet, but that was about to change.

"Kitty-Kat? Twins?"

The mop of blonde hair whipped around to face him, as the two taller boys poked their heads around on either side of him. As if they couldn't see over his head as they were a good head taller than him. Their faces lit up in surprise, before they grinned. "Shrimp!" they said in perfect unison. Yugi returned it, looking back at his team mates, before his own face became even brighter, and he took off at full speed towards them.

"No, wait! Slow-," it was too late as Yugi crashed into the blonde, his arms wrapping around his middle, effectively knocking the other two to the ground as well. "Down," he finished.

Yugi sat up on the blonde, "Oh, it's been ages! How have you been?!"

"Well, we'd be better if you got off of us!" one of the taller males replied.

"Oh, sorry, Seto."

"Geez, do you ever run out of energy, Yug?" the blonde asked as Yugi helped him up.

"Nope! Having unlimited energy is only half of the fun."

"Hey, where's our hugs?" the other tall male asked.

Yugi grinned and gave them both hugs as well, but without knocking them over as he had done the blonde. He pulled away still grinning, not that they had stopped either. It had been so long since he'd seen his brothers. They'd gotten taller. Which meant, they'd probably gotten faster too.

"So, we've been good. How 'bout you?" the blonde asked.

"Oh, you know, still bouncing from home to home. Same old same old."

"Who're they?" Seto asked.

Yugi looked over his shoulder at his team mates. They had inched closer to them, and were still doing so, even with Yugi looking at them. He turned back to the three in front of him.

"Just my Cross Country Team. Nobody important."

"Hey!" he heard Atem exclaim behind him.

"I think they disagree," the blonde grinned.

"Come on introduce us."

"And by introductions, he means by real names, not nicks."

"Fine," Yugi turned around and started to point them out. "Atem, Yami, Jason, Mahad, Marik, and Bakura. Kids, meet my real brothers. Seto and Seth Kishi, and Katsuya Jounouchi."

"What's up?" Seth asked.

"You're related?" Jason asked.

"I see what you mean," Seto said nodding at Yugi.

"Yeah, it's feels like babysitting sometimes, it really does."

"Do you still do that?" Jou asked.

"Sometimes, but only when the Director has a hot date."

"So, you're the Twins, obviously. But how're you Kitty-Kat?" Marik asked pointing at Jou.

"It's an inside joke, you wouldn't get it," he replied frowning.

"So you still there?" Seth asked.

"No, I'm actually in a temp home right now. Biggest thick skulled human beings you'll ever meet. Ran away four times in four days straight, and they still refused to give me up."

"Hm, that's interesting. Reminds me of the Carters."

"I only stayed because you guys made me feel as if I belonged."

"We know, and then they got busted for that thing, and we were sent to the Youngs," Seto growled out.

Yugi visibly shuddered. He really preferred not to remember them. They had destroyed what little family he felt he had had. Not only his though, but Kitty-Kat's and the Twins's too. He shook off the bad memories, and noticed that everyone was gathering up into their groups.

"Let's continue this later, I think it's time to line up," Yugi said motioning around them.

"Yeah, we should catch up. You back in Domino?"

"Mmhmm."

"There's a bus that goes out there, we should get together sometime."

"You just want to meet the new male and female, don't you?" Yugi asked with a small smirk. They smirked back, and Yugi nodded. He then led his team to the starting line, putting the slowest in front and the fastest in the back. They prepared for the race, and when the official pulled the trigger on the small gun, they were off.

Running was his thing, had always been his thing, so it was no surprise when he pulled up to the top runners in 30 seconds flat. The top runners being the Twins of course. Still, though, they'd never been able to outrun him, so he wasn't particularly worried about it when he didn't pass them right away. He was saving his strength for that last burst of speed. He knew they were doing the same. They never looked back at him though, the mark of a true bred runner. Never looking back at the competition. Looking back just slowed you down.

They came up to the hill soon enough, and Yugi dug his toes in as he tilted his head down, and leaned into the hill. Once they were on the final stretch he put in his final speed, and even though he could tell the Twins had done the same, he still passed them with ease, and crossed that finish line.

He looked back for the first time, to see the Twins sweating as heavily as him, but with twin glares in his direction. Atem, Jou, and Yami came in next, as he had previously expected them too. Well, no, he had expected Yami to be before Jou, but oh well. Beggars could never be choosers.

"You both should have remembered that size has nothing to do with it," Yugi said standing up straight.

"We didn't forget, we just temporarily misplaced the fact that you might have become faster too, Shrimp."

He grinned at them. He really had missed them. The four of them walked off to the side where they talked as the rest of the runners came in. Yugi looked over as Mahad and Jason came in, surprisingly, not the last runner's in. No some boy from Benson had that title. Still, he needed to work on their speed and endurance. He turned back to this conversation at hand.

Apparently, Jou had found the foster home that had his sister, Serenity. And they had been able to make contact a few times. That was good, when Yugi had last saw him six years ago, he had been devastated about being split up from her, and fearful of ever seeing her again. He asked about Mokuba, but there was no change, he was still in the coma. That sucked.

They asked about him. Like where did he go after he ran away six years ago? Yugi looked around before telling them he didn't want to talk about that here. Too many ears to hear. They nodded, giving him their new address if he ever wanted to visit. He did the same with them.

It was really good to see them again. They talked for a few minutes more before they were both called away to their teams. Yugi's piled back into Penny's bug, while most of them started to walk home. Right, this was where they had always lived, of course they would be able to walk home.

Yugi sighed, as he stared out the window. It had been really great to see his brothers again, but he felt sad at having to go back home without them. They were his family. Always had been. No one could replace the spot that they had created in his heart. They had broken through walls that no else could, and discovered all he knew about himself.

They had formed a bond, that not even time could break. As it had just been proven, by the conversation they had just had. Yugi would be lying if he didn't say he was a little attached to them. Still, he knew they had just as much of an attachment to him. That's all it was though, an attachment. It was all it would ever be too.

Yugi blinked, realizing he had never heard the winner of the race. He turned to Penny and asked her that. She said the Cochise team won with them in second, but only by a few seconds. Yugi's anger hit the roof.

"WHAT!? No, that's impossible, I put together the perfect team. We couldn't have possibly lost!"

"We didn't lose! We got second place!" Marik protested.

"Which isn't first. I've been going too easy on you lot. We need to step it up."

"Return of the Drill Sergeant," Mahad whispered to the others.

"That's right, it is! Get used to it!"

"Okay, no, I'm taking over coaching," Penny intervened.

"Why?" he asked turning to her.

"Because if I don't, you're going to work them into an early grave."

"Oh, is that a problem?"

She rolled her eyes at him, before pulling off the highway and into Domino. She dropped each of them off at their respective homes. Yugi climbed out of the front, and bounded up the steps. The female greeted him with a big smile.

"What are you so happy about? We got second."

"Oh, congratulations! I'm so proud of you!"

"That's nothing to be proud of. It wasn't first. And by a few seconds too, disgusting." He started to walk back towards his room.

"Uh, you still placed," she said in a confused voice as she turned to face him.

"Yeah, right, the only good thing that came out of toady was that I saw my brothers."

"You have siblings?"

"Not by blood, but they're as close as I can get to real siblings. I hope you don't mind, but I invited them over Saturday."

"Uh, okay."

"Cool! This weekend's going to be lots of fun." He threw her a lecherous grin before disappearing into his room.

"This weekend's going to be hell."

 **He he, the next chapter is going to be lots of fun. No questions. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review! Midnight ;p**


	10. Pretty jewels

**Okay, so I realized a mistake** **I made with Seto's and Seth's last name, and went back and changed it. It would have been confusing to the plot later on if I hadn't. Just wanted to let you guys know that, before there were any questions about it. Anyway, I won't keep you any longer. I do not own Yugioh. Enjoy!**

Chapter 10

Yugi just laughed as he walked out the door. The female was very amusing, demanding where he was going and when he was going to be back. Like he was actually going to tell her where he was going. And as for her other question, he didn't know.

It had taken him some time to get ready, and get out of the house. He had dressed in his black leather pants, with two belts slung across his hips. He had several bracelets on each arm, a choker around his neck and was wearing a tight fitted grey t-shirt, with an ever smaller black vest on over it. He hadn't bothered to button it, he knew they'd just pop off. He pulled on his tennis shoes, and he had to admit, he looked pretty bad ass strutting down the streets.

He walked down to South End, before hopping onto a bus, after flashing his bus pass at the driver he sat down. It was then that he noticed he had company. Damn it, now it was going to take even longer to get there, he needed to ditch the lost puppy crew first.

He pulled on the line telling the driver he wanted to get off. He saw the confused look on Marik's face, but he just ignored it. You know, it was at times like these that he wished he had a cell phone. He could call the guys and let them know he was going to be a little late. Still though, this was going to be an interesting game of lose the babes.

[Time skip]

Yugi ran up to Seth, Seto, and Jou. They just raised their eyebrows at him, as he put his hands on his knees and held up one finger.

"What took you?" Seto asked.

"Yeah, you were supposed ta be here half an hour ago," Jou added.

"Sorry, I had to ditch the babes," Yugi said standing up straight.

"Aw, you had girls following you?"

"No, not babes, _babes_."

"Oh, they wouldn't be your cross country team by any chance would they?" Seth asked looking over his shoulder at something.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Yugi muttered turning around. After all he had just done to lose them, and somehow they had still managed to follow him. No, wait, _they_ hadn't, just _Yami_. Of all the-

He broke his thought off. Yami was looking in every store searching for where he went. That wasn't what made him cut his thought short though. No, it was the goons that were following _him_. Yugi cursed, it just had to be the pretty weak boy that had managed to follow him. If it had been any of the others, he would have just left them to their fate. But Yami? No way.

"Hey, Lamb!" he shouted.

Yami's head turned towards him, and his whole face lit up.

"Get over here! Now!"

Yami came skipping, actually skipping, up to him. Yugi really wanted to bash his head into the nearest store window. Instead he just wrapped his arm possessively around Yami's waist, and glared at the four goons that had been stalking him. They glared right back at him, before turning and crossing the street.

Did he ever tell you about the time he actually lived on the Southside of Domino? No? Oh, well, in case you didn't notice, he still had a bit of a rep on this side. He turned back to Yami, who was grinning down at him. Yugi didn't even hesitate as he slapped him upside the head.

"Where's the possessive boyfriend?" Jou asked.

"Yugi, that hurt," Yami whined clutching his head.

"Good, and that's an excellent question. Where's Kodai?"

"I don't know. I got separated from him in that big crowd. I saw your hair and thought you were him and followed you. Then when I got off the bus, I almost lost you. What are we doing on the Southside?"

"I'm meeting up with my brothers. I thought it would be unwise to let them lose on the suburbs first thing off, so I decided to meet them here first instead. Why didn't you get off the bus before we hit North End?"

"I don't know," he kicked the ground with his foot.

"Stay next to us, do not leave our sight."

"Why?"

"Why? Did you just ask why?"

"I believe he did Yug," Jou said.

"And it's simple. A pretty thing like in the ghetto is like putting a pricy steak in front of a starving man. They'll eat you up, and spit you back out, only you'll be lucky if you're still alive when they do that."

"Yeah, they'd probably slit your throat first, so you don't talk."

"Wow, could you be any more graphic, Twins?" Yugi asked.

"Sure!"

"Please don't. The last thing I need is for his boyfriend to get all pissy at me cause the kid is having nightmares."

"Oh, I'm sure just being in the ghetto will give him those."

"Whatever, let's go to the New Martian."

"Is it still open?"

"Should be. Why?"

"Well, last I recalled, places around here opened and closed faster than a rainstorm passing through."

"True, but this place has almost closed six times and somehow still survived them all."

"Must be because they put New into their name."

Yugi shrugged, "maybe. Let's go," he moved his arm from around Yami's waist too seize his bicep, and drag him along. The Twins fell into step behind them, and Kitty-Kat on his other side.

In short, if you wanted to get to pretty boy you'd have to go through all of them. Good luck to any idiot who tried. Where do you think Yugi learned to fight? It certainly wasn't a TV show. No, it was his brothers, they had taught him how to fight. It was after that that he had come to live in Southside, for a short time at least.

"Yugi, I want to go home," Yami whined.

"You had that chance, and chose not to take it. Now you're stuck with us until I go home."

"I'm scared."

"That's nice, get inside."

Yugi shoved him through a doorway, and pulled him over to a booth in the back. He shoved him into the corner and slid in beside him. It was a half circle booth, so it was easy to block Yami in. From that point they kind of just ignored him as they caught up.

There wasn't really anything on the menu that Yami would eat, so Yugi ordered him a salad with bacon in it. He wasn't satisfied, but he wasn't supposed to be here anyway. Yugi was describing his new home in better depth in detail, when Yami poked his arm.

"What?"

"I need to use the bathroom."

"Alright," he motioned for Jou to move and the slid out of the booth. Yugi was about to point to where the bathroom was, when a flash of movement caught his eye. It was those same thugs from before, but this time they had two muscle guys with them. Yugi's lip curled, he recognized those thugs, and they were some of the worst.

He seized Yami's bicep in a grip that was perhaps a little rough, but he needed to send a message, so he couldn't really care for the kid's feelings right now. Yami pawed at his hand, but Yugi just dragged him into the bathroom, and shoved him into the largest stall.

"Lock the door, Yami, and whatever you may hear, don't come out."

Yami did as he was told. Good, then the kid knew something wasn't right. Or maybe he was just scared. More scared than he was letting on anyway. The door opened behind him, and Yugi turned, leaning against Yami's stall door in a casual manner.

"Move away, Runner. Our boss wants that pretty boy."

"I can't do that. He's under my watch. His boyfriend would kill me if I let anything happen to him."

"You're really willing to put your neck out for this kid?"

"Yeah, is that a problem? I mean, you do remember Mario, right?" Yugi asked, pushing off of the stall. They both shuddered, and Yugi smirked.

"Who's Mario?" Yami asked, and the lock clicked. Yugi pushed against the door, preventing it from opening, and Yami re-locked it once more. The door opened again, and in strolled Seto and Seth. Yugi saw a bit of blonde hair take up the entrance at the door. Great, this was going to be bloody.

"Stay where you are, Lamb. Do not come out. No matter what. _Stay_ _there_."

The Twins dropped into defensive positions, but Yugi gave an almost non noticeable shake of his head. They dropped out of them, as the two muscles lunged at Yugi. He would have dodged one, and punched the other, but that would put one of them in direct contact with the stall. So, instead he punched one in the jaw and kicked the other in the gut, sending him back, straight into Seth's arms. Yugi jerked his head up, and the two took care of him.

Now it was just one on one, and the muscle was sweating, since he was on his own. His comrade was out cold behind him. Yugi offered to let him walk out of here, but they both knew that that really wasn't an option. So he tried to roundhouse kick Yugi in the head. Yugi ducked, shoved his elbow up against his ankle, throwing off his balance. Once he was on the floor, Yugi quickly climbed on top of him, and smashed his fist into the side of his temple. He went limp. Yugi looked up, connecting eyes with Seto. They were narrowed, and Yugi nodded. Time to get the pretty boy out of here, before worse people noticed the little jewel.

Yugi got up, and slammed his shoulder against the stall door, breaking the lock. He snatched up Yami's wrist, and dragged him out of the bathroom. They threw some money on the table as they passed, and high tailed it out of there. They got on the first bus that they could take heading north. Yami had been trembling the entire time.

They got off the bus at North End, and got on another one to head back to South End. When they got off here, there was no one around. It was very unnerving, something wasn't right. He led them up the block and two over to Sampson's. The man looked up, and Yugi asked if he could borrow his phone. He handed it over without question. Yugi dialed an all too familiar number for him, and waited for someone to pick up.

 _"_ _Hello?"_

"Hi, this is Yugi Mutou, is Officer Kodai there?"

 _"_ _One moment please."_

Yugi waited for five minutes on hold. He was becoming impatient when the line picked back up.

 _"_ _Chief Kodai, how may I help you?"_

"Oh, Chief now. Congrats on your promotion!"

 _"_ _Mutou. Oh thank goodness, have you seen Yami?"_

"Yeah, I'm looking right at him. He's a mess. Can you send Atem down to Cheaper than Dirt Electronics?"

 _"_ _Why is he a mess?"_

"He followed me to the Southside."

 _"_ _HE DID WHAT!?"_

"No need to shout. I can hear you just fine."

 _"_ _Yugi, what happened?"_

"Some muscle from the Scorpions tried to convince me to hand him over. Don't worry though, roughed them up, and got out of there."

 _"_ _The Scorpions?"_

"Ugh, it's a…a prostituting gang. The same ones that tried to nab Mario. Remember that?"

 _"_ _I…yeah, I remember. They wanted you too if I recall."_

"They're idiots."

 _"_ _Yugi…"_

"They never touched him. We made sure of it."

 _"_ _We?"_

"Uh, yeah, my brothers are in town."

 _"…_ _."_

"Kodai?"

 _"_ _I'm still here. Please, do me a favor?"_

"Depends on the favor."

 _"_ _Don't paint the town red. Please, please do not paint the town red."_

"Ha ha ha," he cupped a hand over the receiver, "we're not allowed to paint the town red," he told his brothers, his eyes glittering in mirth. He took his hand off the receiver to talk to the Officer, err, Chief again. "When have we ever painted a town completely red anyway?"

 _"_ _Never, but still, please not one speck of red?"_

"Oh, I can't promise that, but I'll try my best to restrain them."

 _"_ _It's their ring leader I'm most worried about."_

Yugi pulled the phone away from his mouth, but didn't bother to cover the receiver this time. "Jou, Kodai is worried about you."

 _"_ _No, I…tch, never mind."_

The door banged open, and they all whipped around. Atem stood panting in the doorway, his eyes wild with worry. "Oh good, he's finally here. Buh bye, Officer." He hung the phone up, cutting off whatever it was he was saying.

"Yami," he sighed in relief crossing the room, and wrapping the other up in his arms. He turned his head to glare at Yugi. He raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? It's not my fault you became separated from him. You're lucky I was able to return him in one piece. He'll probably need some therapy from Penny though. Someone wanted to make him their private bitch."

Everyone saw a visible shiver go down Yami's spine. It shook Atem's arms. He pulled the other male closer.

"Come on, he's in good hands now," Yugi said motioning to his brothers. "Thanks, Sampson."

"Hm, I still think you should look Linkin Park up."

"No."

The four boys left, just walking down the sidewalk. Yugi saw movement in one of the windows, and looked over. He shoved Seto to the ground, parried the attack, and shoved Atem's face into the ground.

"Don't be stupid," he whispered into his ear before letting him up. Seth was already helping Seto to his feet.

"Really?" Seth asked advancing. "We bring your boyfriend back to you in relatively one piece, and this is how you thank us? Maybe next time we should just leave him to the wolves!" Yugi placed his hands on his chest and stomach to hold him off. "Huh? Does that sound like a better plan to you? Want him locked in some basement until his anal is stretched so far he's no longer of any use to those bastards? Is that what you want!? Huh!? Is it!?" Seth screamed.

"Calm down, Seth," Yugi warned in a low voice.

"I…I…no," Atem said shaking his head.

"Then maybe you should be more grateful next time!" Seth said pushing against Yugi's meager restraint.

"Back down," Yugi growled at him.

Seth shifted his weight away from Yugi, but the latter did not drop his stance. "Stupid turf rules," he muttered taking a few steps back.

Yugi eased up, before turning back to Atem. He was confident that the others would stop Seth before he made an attempt at his open back. At least he hoped they would anyway.

"Seth has a point though, what's running through your head, Kodai?"

"I just…why won't he stop shaking? Trembling?" Atem asked dropping to his knees. He looked so lost. So defeated.

"Because he was in the ghetto for an hour and a half. Anything pretty is eaten up in a heartbeat if it doesn't know how to protect itself. Or is protected." He knelt down in front of him. Lifting his chin so they were looking one another in the eye. "You know, earlier, I had thought if it was one of you who had managed to keep track of me, I would have left you to fend for yourselves. Now though, I'm sure that would have been a bad call on my part. I'm glad it was Yami, my protective instincts kicked in quicker."

"All of ours did. He was a little lamb, amongst hundreds of wolves," Jou added.

"You all are, come to think of it," Seto said.

"Hm," Yugi nodded, standing back up. He reached down, and grabbed Atem's bicep, lifting him to his feet as well. "Go get, Yami, and go home, the both of you. If you want to file a police report, talk to your Dad's. They'll be able to help you out with that one. It won't do much good, but it might make you feel better."

"Why are you being so nice?"

"I've been through plenty of ordeals, this is your first. Besides, you look like you're about to be sick, Atem. Go home."

"What about you?"

"I'm good. I'm going to show my brothers around before taking them back to the temp." Yugi smirked adding on, "maybe we can all have a nice family dinner together."

Atem nodded, but he didn't really appear to be paying attention. He walked back the way he had come. Hopefully he took Yugi's advice.

He turned to Seth, "You know, you're the one who made up those turf rules."

"Yeah, well, now I think they're stupid."

The other three laughed. Seth playfully punched Yugi in the shoulder. He elbowed him in the ribs. Then the four start to walk down the sidewalk again. They discussed random subjects, before it circled back around to the little Lamb.

"Think he'll be okay?"

"After a few therapeutic sessions with Penny; I think he'll be just fine."

"Isn't she _your_ therapist?" Jou asked.

"She's the school counselor, and track Coach."

"What does a counselor know about track?"

"Enough to get by," Yugi chuckled.

"Enough stalling, take us back to the temp," Seto ordered.

"I'm not stalling."

Seto raised a single eyebrow at him.

"Okay, maybe I was a little. I'm just not sure if they're ready for the crash crew."

"We're not going home until we meet them," Jou said bluntly.

"Yeah, saw that coming. Okay, this way."

He turned in the opposite direction and led them back to the temp. He sighed, stopping in front of his house, before bounding up the stairs, and opening the front door. He automatically stepped aside, and let the female crash into his brothers. They all toppled off the porch and onto the walk up. Yugi snickered.

"You could have warned us!" Seth complained.

"I stepped aside, that was your warning," he said walking down the steps, and helping the female to her feet.

"Oh, that was a surprise. And who are you boys?"

"Shrimp?"

"These are my true brothers, Seth and Seto Kishi, and Katsuya Jounouchi."

"Your _true_ brothers?" she questioned as if confused.

"Only family I've ever known. Come inside and meet the rest of them."

"Okay, cool, sounds good," they all said together.

He introduced them to Ryou and Malik, and by the looks on their faces, they sort of remembered them. Not really though. The male did though. He had them line up against the wall and patted them down. He found one lighter, two knives, and a small firework on their persons. He confiscated all items, telling them they could have them back when they left. Except the firework, they weren't getting the firework back.

Yugi laughed as he led them into his room. Seth gave a low whistle, and Yugi knew he thought it was nice. The other two shrugged, not all that impressed. He hadn't expected them to be.

"Um, boys, we're having sloppy joes tonight if you want to stay over for dinner? Maybe spend the night, since it's getting so late. Our phone is available if any of you need to make phone calls home," the female said poking her head through the open door. She was doing that whole mothering thing again.

"No, they know we're here. We never said when we were coming back."

"I'm sure they're worried though."

Jou snorted, "Between collecting money for every kid in that home, and shooting back whiskey, when do they have time to actually worry about the kids they're supposed to be taking care of?"

"Yeah, it's a good thing we learned how to cook early in our lives. Would have starved to death otherwise. Us, and everyone else in that home," Seth said.

"Oh my, that's horrible," the female gasped covering her mouth.

"Welcome to group home," Seto sneered.

Yugi cleared his throat, and they all backtracked. Muttering apologies, and saying they were just kidding. Seto smoothed it over by saying he'd call them right now. He walked out of the room, and followed the female to the phone. Yugi turned to the others, once he was sure she was out of earshot.

"In case you haven't noticed, she can be very mothering. So annoying."

"At least you have someone who actually acts the part," Jou muttered bitterly.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry."

"I don't think that was acting. I think she genially cares," Seth admitted freely.

"You have a good home, for once."

"They didn't even know we were gone," Seto said coming back into the room.

"We told them this morning! They acknowledged us!"

"Apparently not well enough to remember though."

"Ugh, we're lucky they didn't call the popo again."

"They said if we're not home by 5:00 pm tomorrow, they'll be sure to do that. They don't need us taking after you."

"In what way?" Yugi asked with an all so innocent look on his face.

"You know what way!" Jou said grabbing him in a headlock and giving him a noogie.

"Ah! I call! I call!" Yugi squirmed in the hold, tapping his arm. Jou released him, and Yugi rubbed his head, backing up out of reach.

"Um, Yugi?" a quiet voice asked from the doorway.

"Yeah?" Yugi asked turning to Ryou.

"Do you and your friends want to play Monopoly with Malik and me?"

Yugi looked over at them, and saw that they appeared to be taking more interest in the boy, then they were at the idea of playing the game. Yugi smirked, thinking they were too cute for their own good. "Sure, we'd love to," Yugi answered for all of them moving forward and ruffling Ryou's hair. He lit up, and grabbed Yugi's hand, dragging him out to the living room where Malik was already setting it up.

They reminded him more than once of the little kids in the Orphanage. He supposed that was one of the reasons why he had a soft spot for them. Then again, they'd both been in that Orphanage together at one small point. So it could come from that too.

His brothers sat down, and they all watched as Seth and Seto created entertainment by arguing over who was going to be the warship. They tried to settle it by doing rock paper scissors, but because they were identical, they always ended up in ties. My, how the times didn't change. The argument ended when Yugi told them to pick a number between 1 and 100. He'd learned earlier on that ten was much too small of a space to choose from, and 50 mediocre. Only the 100's ever worked. Seto got the warship, and Seth took the car. Jou was the dog, Ryou the thimble, Malik the iron, and Yugi the shoe.

Ryou called banker straight off, and no one was going to argue with him on that. It was actually fun, the six of them playing together. It had been so long since Yugi had played a board game, he had forgotten the joys of one. He laughed freely with the others, as they game became more and more competitive.

Yugi didn't win though surprisingly enough, Malik did. His brothers had a sneaky suspicion that Yugi had lost most horrendously on purpose, but chose not to comment on it. They had been so into the game though, that the female had let them eat out there in the living room. That was nice of her, even Yugi had to admit it. When the game was finally over though, it was rolling on 11 and they all decided to pack it up and head to bed.

The four boys sat in Yugi's room talking all night, not really needing any sleep. By the time morning arrived, they were being drawn out of the room to the smell of bacon and eggs. Well, Yugi for the eggs, not so much the bacon. His brothers thought he was crazy to pass up free crispy bacon but they also knew the history behind it, so they didn't do anything more than tease.

Afterwards, they paid a house call to Yami's only to find that he was still over at the Kodai's. They had, however, been unable to avoid the hug that Mrs. Sennen gave them for keeping her only son safe. They walked over to the Kodai's and knocked on the door. As soon as Mrs. Kodai saw them, she ushered them in. She teld them that Yami was still shaken up, but they were sure he was going to be fine in a couple of days or so. They thought it would be best to keep him out of school for a couple of days though.

Yugi disagreed, saying he needed to talk to Penny. She was used to hearing about this kind of stuff. Not only from him, but he was sure from other students as well. The ones who actually lived in the ghetto. He asked if he had talked about it at all.

"No, he hasn't said a single word," she sighed shaking her head.

"That's not good. I know from experience that you need to get it out right away, it's not good to bottle things up. Penny, she's really good at unsealing bottles. If anyone can get him to talk, it's her."

"Okay, we'll tell his Father, but I'm not sure what good it'll do. He's already asking the judge for a warrant to round up every known Scorpion on the street."

"That'll never pass. He has a family to think about too, and if he does a mass arrest, his family is bound to be targeted by the unknown ones."

"He can be very persistent."

"And that judge can be a dick."

"You'd know that better than anyone," Chief Kodai said coming into the room.

"How is he, really?"

"He'll be fine."

"Alright, we just wanted to see how he was doing. How they both were doing."

"My son is stronger than you give him credit for."

"I sometimes wonder at that. Yesterday, he looked like a broken man."

"Get out!" he said harshly.

Yugi put his hands up, before shoving them into his pockets and leaving. His brothers said something in a low voice to Kodai, before they followed him out. He didn't ask them what they said, he didn't want to know. Didn't need to know.

They wandered around town for the rest of the day, ending up at Sampson's, where they bumped into Marik coming out of it with Akeifa. They all looked at one another, before the two thanked them, and left.

"Oh, back to use my phone again?"

"Nah, just to hang until three, then I need to see these losers off at the bus station."

"Want some pot stickers?"

"Did your sister make them?" Yugi asked picking one up and sniffing it.

"You know she doesn't let me go near an open stove after the macaroni incident."

Yugi snickered, as he took a bite out of the pot sticker to discover it was pork. "What happened with the macaroni?" Seto asked picking one up. Yugi nearly choked on the food, as he busted out laughing.

"I set it on fire," Sampson admitted as his cheeks flared a light pink.

"Not a chef, huh?" Jou asked as they all laughed along with Yugi.

"We can't all be cooks! Some of us have to be bad at it, so the ones who can cook actually look good."

"Keep telling yourself that, Sam."

"Don't worry I will."

They all laughed some more, before talking about music. They all got into a heated debate about which band was better, Fall Out Boy or Escape the Fate. It was never settled as they looked at the clock to see that it was 3:45, giving them six minutes to get across town, before the last bus left. They gave a rushed goodbye to Sam, before running out.

They made it, barely. They had like two seconds before the bus arrived, but thankfully there was a small line. So it gave them a chance to hug it out, before hopping on the bus and leaving. They told him to cause lots of trouble for that rude officer. Basically to give him hell. Yugi told them he'd do his best to.

Well, that had been fun. Probably not the weekend of hell that the female had had in mind, but it had been hellish enough in its own way. Now, all he needed to do was get Yami to open up about his bad experience, and all would be a little better. It was the question of how though.

The kid had a soft mind, being sheltered most of his life, so it was no surprise he was acting this way. Atem was going to have be his crutch for a little while. He was sure the boy could handle it though. Yugi shook his head, why was he worried anyway? Everything would fall into whatever place it was meant to be in. They'd see, it would eventually work its way out. It always did.

 **So, if you can't tell, Yugi is slowly becoming softer, ever so slowly** **. It won't be long now. Thank you for everyone** **who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please** **review. I need them to feel** **better. My Seahawks lost today. We are no longer in the playoffs. Ah well, you win some...you lose some. If I have any avid Panther fans out there, you played a good first half, it was better than our domination of the second half. I hope you win the Superbowl. Review! Midnight ;p**


	11. Pain in Spades

**I do not own Yugioh or any of the songs used in this story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 11

Yugi stood there staring into his locker. Stacked neatly in a pile was every CD ever made by Linkin Park that Sampson had in his store. Don't ask him how he knew this. It wasn't worth going into details about. The question of how they even got there wasn't what was bothering him though. No, the thing that was bothering him, was where his textbooks were.

The CDs had mysteriously taken their place. If he could just figure out who had put them here, he could figure out who had his books. He recalled an image of Marik and Akeifa coming out of the store yesterday, but there was no way they had done this. They just didn't have the brains for it. So, who else?

He thought about it for a second, and came to the quick conclusion that no one had the balls or brains for this stunt. So, he could solve his problem two ways. He could go up to every one of his classmates, or he could just use the intercom system. The second option caused him less stress and work, so why not? He was sure that the uh, ladies in the office wouldn't mind.

He slammed his locker shut, and strolled away from it, his hands shoved into his pockets. He had left the CDs there. He wasn't interested in that band, so why bother wasting space in his backpack? Besides, when he found who had his books, he didn't think that their plastic cases could stand up to the weight.

He strolled into the office, and saw both Akiha and Umeda pause as they were talking to one of the office ladies. He nodded at them and grinned, as he strolled right into the intercom room, snagging the key off the hook as he went. It took them a moment to react, but by the time they had, Yugi had already shut the door and locked it. He waved the key at them from inside, before tossing it into the trash.

"Yugi Mutou! You open this door this instant!" Umeda shouted through the door.

"And if I don't?"

"I'll suspend you!"

"Oh dear, that is a problem. Okay," he dug the key out of the trashcan and opened the door before shutting and locking it again. "Anything else you wanted?"

Umeda just sputtered at him, completely red in the face. Yugi nodded, taking it all in. He saluted the man, before going over to the microphone, and turning it on.

"Hello, my fellow students of slavery to this droll place they call school. Forced day after day to come to such an inhumane place of boredom," he glanced over at the door here to see that Umeda had become even a darker red in the face. Oh, he was in so much trouble. But then, when had he ever cared about that? "I have a situation that I would like some help with it. You see, sometime earlier today, all my books went missing out of my locker to be replaced by Linkin Park. Yuck. I know one of you, if not more, knows exactly what I'm talking about. So, here's what's gonna happen, if you don't want me to start frisking every one of you, you'll reproduce them before I get out of the Principal's office. If they're not there, then I'll have no choice to. Trust me, I'll enjoy it a lot more than you will." He then turned off the microphone, and opened the door. Umeda had been replaced by an amused Penny.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Frisk them will you?" she asked.

"Everyone."

"Uh huh, and how exactly are you planning on doing that? When even the simplest lewd comment makes you sick?"

"Um…I…uh…you see…I don't know?"

"Well, since you disturbed the classroom, I think it's more than fair too let these girls disturb you." She walked back out the office door.

Yugi frowned. "Girls? What girls? Penny…Penny, _what_ _girls_?!" he seized the door handle and lunged out of the door, only to slam his back against it.

"I have your books!" a blonde said.

"Don't lie to him! I have them, but you'll have to find them first," a red head said blowing him a kiss. Yugi was gonna vomit.

"Don't listen to them, they're desperate," a sickeningly sultry sweet voice said. It sounded like their Chinese transfer student from last year, Vivian. She emerged from the crowd, and pressed her body up against Yugi's. Oh, if the door could swallow him now, he'd be so grateful. "Go ahead frisk me," she licked her lips. Yugi was going to do one better than that, he was going to puke in her face.

"Yoo hoo, Yugi!" someone sang at him. He looked over Vivian's shoulder to see Akeifa waving one of his books at him.

He shoved Vivian away from him and into the rest of the girls. He plowed through them, getting touched more times than he wanted, in more places than he thought hands could actually reach. He stopped in front of Akeifa, doubled over, with one hand on his knee, the other covering his mouth. He really didn't think he wanted sick in his shoes, he really didn't.

"Hey, you okay? You're really green."

He tried to swallow the bile back down, but oh no, too late!

"Oh, GROSS!"

"Maybe I shouldn't have offered to frisk them," Yugi said wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Ya think?"

"I'm sure one of your friends will switch with you." He stood up straight.

"Oh yeah, like they want to be swimming in this," Akeifa spat before turning on his heel. He motioned for Yugi to follow. He hated following, he'd rather lead. But…Akeifa knew where his books were, and he really needed them. He groaned before following, walking around the puddle on the floor.

[Time skip]

Yugi and Akeifa were the last ones to show up on the track field. There sitting in a pile, oh so innocently, were his textbooks. He rolled his eyes, before going and collecting them. Yami wasn't there, which wasn't a real big shocker. The kid probably needed to recuperate after his little adventure last weekend. Probably massive amounts of therapy really.

Atem stepped up to him, and held out the CDs, all eight of them. He could have sworn he'd left those in his locker. Yugi smirked at him, and took them. He set them on the bench and then punched him across the face. Atem went down, eating asphalt, having never seen it coming.

"Pathetic," Yugi spat. He dumped the CDs into his bag, and hitched it higher onto his shoulder. "Practice is cancelled for today due to missing members, injuries, and other things," Yugi said glancing at Akeifa.

He looked away, and Marik's eyes flew back and forth between the two. Yugi's smirk grew into a lecherous grin as he walked away, with a little swag in his step. He flexed the hand he had used to hit Atem with. Soft flesh, with no muscle, so weak.

Yugi bounded up the front steps of his temp home sometime later. He had tried to return the CDs to Sampson, but he had actually requested a receipt for once. Yugi just rolled his eyes at the man, and told him he'd keep the damn CDs if it made him happy. To which he responded that there would be a test on them later, just to make sure he'd at least glanced at their sound. Yugi flicked him off as he left the store.

The female was in the hallway, hands on hips, with a disappointed look on her face. Yugi grinned at her, winking even, before going into his room. That's what the kid got for breaking into his locker twice, and stealing his shit. Okay, maybe that wasn't exactly fair. He didn't know if Atem had broken into his locker the first time, it could have been one of the other guys, but still. He had to of at least broken into it once to get the CDs out. So, his punch? Totally justified.

Yugi pulled out one of the Linkin Park CDs. Hybrid Theory. He turned it over to read the back. 1. Lame, 2. Stupid, 3. Ew, 4. Maybe, 5. Okay, 6. Hm, 7. Maybe, 8. No, 9. Yeah right, 10. Completely, 11. What, and 12. Everyday. Thus every song was renamed. His eyes flicked back up to number six though, Runaway. He popped opened his boom box taking out Hate Me, and putting this one in. He'd couldn't deny that his interests had been peaked, just a fraction above a millimeter. He flipped to six, and just waited for the crap to play. If he liked this song, he _might_ just listen to the rest.

He turned up the bass, leaning in to the words. Maybe Sampson had been right all along, this was his type of music. Angry, vengeful, loud, in your face, can't ignore, perfect, and right up with the rest of the bands he usually listened to.

"Linkin Park, wherever you may be, so sorry for judging you just by your name. Never again though, never again."

He flipped back to the first one, and listened to the whole album. When he was done with one, he out the next one in, and the next, and the next, and you get the idea. He listened to all of the CDs. Straight through the night and into the morning. He didn't feel tired as he got ready for school, nor concerned that he hadn't done his homework the night before. It wasn't due until tomorrow anyway, so he wasn't all that concerned about it.

He left the CD cases scattered on his bed, as he slung his backpack over his shoulder, and headed out. He realized he had never eaten last night so grabbed an apple on his way out. That should appease the female to some degree.

As Yugi walked to school, three shadows fell into step beside and behind him. He didn't even glance over, nor bothered walking faster. What was the point? They'd just track him down again. Instead he kept his pace, until one of them grabbed his arm and spun him to face him. Huh, maybe he should have taken a look at his shadows, they weren't his usual ones.

"Hello, Runner," the one holding him sneered. Yugi switched the hand that he was holding his apple in, and took a bite out of it.

"What can I do for you?" he asked. They were the same goons from this past weekend. The ones that had tried to beat him up so they could kidnap the little Lamb, and it seemed they'd brought some extra muscle with them.

"Where's your little Lamb?"

"Safe, with his cop Daddy at home."

"His Father is part of the Popo?"

"Damn straight," Yugi replied before taking another bite out of his apple. He noticed he had about two left.

"Which one?" another one asked flexing his muscles. Amateur, as if that would intimidate him into telling. Still, he was in a playing mood, so why not?

"The one with the white fence, yellow paint, and blue shutters," he took another bite of his apple.

"Oh yeah, that's a real amusing," the third said spitting on the ground. "Look, you're outnumbered, kid, so why don't you just give him up? You don't have your friends here to watch your back this time, so come on."

Yugi gave out a dark small chuckle, "I don't have a little Lamb to protect either."

He took the final bite, chewed it, and then spit it back out in the first guy's face. He threw it at the third, ripped his arm out, and ducked. The second guy lunged right into the first one, and the third guy took a swing at him. Yugi parried it, and kicked the guy's knee in backwards. He went down howling in pain.

He faced the other two, seeing them just getting up, Yugi walked up behind the second one, and hit his pressure point in the back of his neck. He slumped down unconscious. The first guy backed up a little, before trying to kick him in the head. Yugi grabbed his ankle, and jerked it, sending the man flat on his back. Yugi stood over him, before knocking him out with a clean punch to the temple.

He sighed, this had to stop, now. He knew the easiest way to send a message back to their boss would be to cripple the resources of power. Namely, the amount of men that could walk around. He grabbed one of the first guy's leg, and snapped the ankle cleanly. He broke the second guy's leg, in the same place as the third one's. He walked over to the second guy who was whimpering on the ground, and trying to scoot away from him. Yugi tsked his behavior, searching his pockets, and finding his cell phone.

Standing up, he scrolled through the numbers before finding the one he was looking for. He speed dialed the number, before putting it to his ear. It took three rings before she answered.

 _"_ _Do you have the little Lamb?"_

"No, nor shall you ever acquire it."

 _"_ _Oh, Runner, how nice to hear your voice again. Are you sure you don't want to join my family?"_

"Positive, but you might want to come pick up your boys. They're going to need medical attention."

 _"_ _What did you do?"_

"I broke a few bones."

 _"_ _I see, then I'll just have to send more your way."_

"Do that, and I'll send them to a morgue, not the Hospital."

 _"_ _So tough, but we all know you don't kill."_

"Do you really want to take that risk? I did disappear for three years, you've no idea what I did in my spare time."

 _"_ _You don't kill," her voice was shaky. "You're bluffing."_

"Do you really want to test that?"

 _"_ _I…"_

"Come collect your trash, Spades, or I might just rethink sending them to the Hospital. You have two hours."

He hung up, and snapped the phone in half. He dropped the pieces at the guy's feet, before knocking him out too. He stood up, looking down at his uniform. There was blood staining his white school shirt. It wasn't his, so where…? Oh, the second guy, he'd accidentally broken through his skin when he broke his leg, damn.

He dug in the guy's pockets, taking out his cell phone. He dialed 911, and set the phone in the guy's hand before walking off. He zipped up his jacket, took out his headphones, put them in and started to blast Linkin Park Hunting Party. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets he continued on his way to school, as if nothing had happened.

[Time skip]

Yugi was being led down the hallways of the Police station, and into an interrogation room. They had taken his backpack, but not his iPod or headphones. The officer leading him down the hallway had an ice pack on his eye. Served him right, bastard.

Instead of sitting in the chair, he laid across the table. He plugged his headphones into his ears, and slammed noise into his eardrums. Minutes later, his music was cut off abruptly when someone unplugged his iPod. He shot up, to yell at them, but it was just Kodai and the male.

Together they flipped the table onto him. What the hell? He pushed it off, and took his lifeless headphones out.

"What the fuck is your problem?!" Yugi asked as they righted the table and put a bunch of pictures on it.

"Uh, what's our problem?" Kodai asked, no yelled. "Maybe that you broke your parole? Big time, recognize these men?"

Yugi glanced down at the pictures, before spitting on one of them. Yeah, he recognized them. They were the same idiots he had beaten up that morning. He didn't see what the problem was though, they should still be alive, all of them. Especially if they weren't sent to the ghetto clinic, but the Domino Hospital.

"Your point?" Yugi asked leaning against one of the walls.

"Why is the ghetto coming to the high end? Unless, there's someone here they _know_?"

Yugi clapped for Mr. Freshalls for how brilliant he was being. And by brilliant he meant a psychotic idiot. Yugi knew all of his parole rules, staying away from the gangs was one of them. As if he would ever join one in the first place. Who wanted to spend their life looking over their shoulder?

"Oh, they know someone alright. They know Spades, and what she wants. And she wants the Sennen kid. Or would you rather I told them what picket fence house he lived in? I still can ya know."

"Okay, Dilan, out," Kodai sighed. He gathered up his papers, set Yugi's iPod back on the table, and followed him out. Yugi caught a glimpse of a frazzled Officer screeching to halt in front of them, and pointing down the hallway. The male went white, before the door closed. Yugi grabbed the iPod, and flipped from Linkin Park to playlist Track 5. He knew there was someone behind that glass watching him, and he decided that he'd give them a little show. Provide a little entertainment.

Liars and Monsters, Perfect Life, Runaway, Left Ey3, Fancy, Darkest Part, and White and Nerdy. Over and over again he sang the songs. Well, until the female burst into the interrogation anyway, with Penny right behind her.

"We both know that you're not going to speak to any of these Officers with a proper form of respect. So I brought Penny down, and thought maybe the two of you could have a long conversation about what happened this morning," the female explained before leaving the two of them in the room together. Yugi pulled out one headphone but left the other in.

"Fancy? Really?" Penny asked.

"What? The bass is sick."

"Hm," she said sitting in the chair across from him. "Spill."

"They came up to me, grabbed me, and demanded our precious little Lamb. I think they thought if I didn't have my boys around, then they'd be able to overpower me. They even brought an extra muscle to help. Perhaps if they had brought about four more, it would have actually been an even fight. As it was, I took'em out in three minutes."

"And breaking their legs, did that happen before or after you knocked them out?"

"Can I get those pics of them back?"

"Why?"

"It'll be easier to explain this if I have their pictures. We didn't exactly exchange names."

Something slid into the room from under the door. Yugi got up and picked the file up. He opened it and laughed, "Thanks," he said waving them at the person behind the window. He walked back over and sat down.

"So, this one before, and these two after," Yugi replied pointing to their pictures.

"Was it really necessary to break their legs?"

"Uh, duh, I wouldn't have done it otherwise."

"Explain."

"They would have come after the kid Sennen again. And we can't have that can we?"

She sighed and stood up, "I don't think you realize the seriousness of the situation, Yugi. Do you remember that Judge? The one that wanted to lock you up after you ran away for three years? For living on your own in that cave in the woods? Do you remember him?"

"Yeah? He's made my life a living hell. How could I possibly forget him?"

"He wants to lock you up again. He believes that if you weren't on the streets anymore, then Yami would have never wandered into the ghetto, and these goons would have never come to our streets."

"What!?" he jumped from his own seat, hands slamming down onto the table. "Why? Because I bring trouble with me wherever I go? Is that his reasoning this time too? Is it?!"

"Yes, it is, but he was shot down by another Judge. They told him they couldn't put you in Juvenile Facility just because you coerced his Grandson into the Cross Country team."

"His Grandson?"

"Jason, he's the Judge's Daughter's son."

"Ah, I never would have touched him. Besides he doesn't mind being on the team, so what's the problem?"

"That Judge hates you?"

"You don't say? Why? Cause I lived in the ghetto _and_ got out again? Asshole."

Penny sighed again, "Yugi, can you please just lay off beating people up for a while? Please? He says if you send one more person to the Hospital, then he doesn't give a damn what the other Judges say, he's locking you up. Though, it would be better for everyone if we just let him do it now. Get it out of the way, you know?"

He pushed away from the table, facing one of the walls. "Yeah, whatever. But I want you to give that Judge a message for me."

"Oh boy."

"If I see anymore of Spades men on my turf, I'm gonna lay'em out. Nobody touches my weak things. They're _mine_. They're under _my_ care, which means I get to protect them by any means necessary. And if he doesn't want them in the Hospital, fine, I'll send them to the morgue. It's all the same to me," Yugi said spinning around.

"Ah, I don't believe that's what he meant when he said he didn't want any more people sent to the Hospital by your hand," Penny said with a nervous look written across her face.

"Not my problem," Yugi replied walking over to the door. He stretched out his legs.

"What are you doing?"

"They're going to need a new door," Yugi said smirking at her, before kicking it down.

"Oh. This is a small town, they only have two interrogation room, Yugi."

"Yeah, well, now they have one," He grinned stepping out into the hall.

"Damn it," he heard her curse.

He walked down the hallway like he owned it. He came out into the waiting area to see Kodai actually pause on his way to his office. He saluted the man, before going to the front desk and demanding his shit. It was handed over to him in slight confusion. He turned around to see Kodai looking away from him, and going down the hallway he had come from. Oh, time to go.

He started out of the Police Station. Whoever said minors needed escorts had clearly never met him. Kodai Jr came up beside him, with his friends falling in next to them.

" _Your_ weak things?" Marik asked.

"Is that a problem?" Yugi asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think it is."

"Why? It's not like you bitches can protect yourselves anyway. That's why I'm here. To make sure no touches your pretty little asses."

Marik's and Akeifa's jaws just dropped. He figured no one had never called them bitches before. Oh well, probably wouldn't be the last time they'd be called that by him. So really, they should get used to it.

"Come on, Atem," Akeifa said grabbing his arm, but Atem just brushed him off.

"Yugi has a foul tongue, it's nothing new," Atem said.

Yugi stopped and faced him under a street light. He had a little shiner on the right side of his jaw. Yugi smirked reaching up to touch it with his fingertips. He hadn't thought he hit Atem that hard, but perhaps he had. Too late to take it back now.

"Whatever man! You wanna be his _bitch_ , then go ahead, be our guest!"

"Does it really not bother you?" Yugi asked lowering his hand and turning his music off.

"Parole? Runaway for three years? What does that mean?" Atem asked ignoring him.

"Parole means that I can't do certain things or I'll be sent to a Juvenile Facility. As for the other one, I'll humor you. Almost seven years ago I ran away from my foster family. I didn't go to any of my usual spots, nor did I go back to them. I disappeared. People got upset about it, and looked for me for months, before they all gave up. Three years later some hiker saw me, and turned me in to your Daddy. Bastard. They dragged me back to Domino, the one place I never wanted to see again. That's what that means. I'm under town lockdown too, until I turn 18 and there's not a damn thing any of you bakas can do to stop me from going back home. My _real_ home, where I answer to no one."

He turned around and walked away then. He left Atem standing there, contemplating his words. He stayed under the light for what seemed like a minute or two, before Yugi heard his running stride coming up from behind him.

"I think I'm starting to get it."

"Get what?"

"Why your life is so messed up. Why you are the way you are."

"Oh, do share!"

"No, I don't have all the pieces yet."

"Come on, a child could figure it out."

"Fine, you were physically abused. By someone close to you obviously, the question is who?"

"Seriously?"

"It'd be too easy to blame your parents, that's why I'm going to collect more evidence before I make any assumptions."

"It's easy cause it's true," Yugi muttered.

"They did?"

"I was taken from them when I was three, Atem. Who else could have done it, huh?" he asked throwing his hands up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I don't even remember what they did. I remember nothing before the age of three."

Yugi turned then, and ran off. He went to the Orphanage. He didn't want to face the female or male tonight. He was such a fucking coward. Oh well, he was sure he'd be over it by tomorrow.

 **Next chapter is loads of fun. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	12. No right

**So close, so very close. I do not own Yugioh, or any of the songs used in this story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 12

Yugi was thinking many things at the moment, as he shoved the _17_ _th_ girl to try to give him hug today away. One he should have kept that kid Kodai glued to his hip yesterday. Second that he really wanted to beat the living shit out of him. Third did people not understand the meaning of a death glare? Fourth where was Kodai? Fifth he hated gossipers. Sixth was that _his_ hair or Sennen's? Seventh oh good Penny's office. Eight maybe he should just beat up the Lamb to teach Kodai the hard lesson of what happened to people who backstabbed him. Ninth he really didn't care that there was already someone wailing in Penny's office as he took a seat on one the available beanbags. And tenth he _really_ wanted to beat the living _shit_ out of Kodai.

"Uh Yugi, do you mind waiting outside?" Penny asked.

"Yeah, actually I do. If I wait outside I might see Kodai. If that were to happen, then I can't be held liable for any actions I might take towards him."

"What do you mean?"

"You heard me," he nodded to the girl. "Do continue."

"Get out!" she yelled at him.

"Do you like looking at Atem's pretty face?"

"Who doesn't? He's so handsome," she replied in a dreamy voice.

"Then it's better if I stay here. We wouldn't want to damage it beyond recognition. Now would we?"

"Jasmine, I'm sorry, but you need to head back to class."

"Uh, right," she said nodding. She grabbed her stuff and ran out, shutting the door on her way.

"What's going on?"

"I want to kill him. I've never wanted to kill anyone before, but I _really_ want to kill Atem."

"Why?"

"I told him some things about my past, and he shared them with the whole damn school!"

"Oh my God."

"Yeah, so I thought I would come here. I figured if I was around you, I would want to kill him less. Feel less of an urge to beat the living shit out of him."

"Wait, you came to find me so you _wouldn't_ beat him up?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," she said her bottom lip wobbling. Yugi knew that tone, his head shot up to look at her. She was wearing _that_ face. That one that gave him the _creeps_.

"Penny, don't cry. You're stronger than that. Don't do it. You don't want to do it."

"But I'm so proud of you," she said in that same tone. "Instead of giving in to your rage you came and found me. I'm so happy." She shuffled closer to him. He winced leaning back, but she still wrapped her arms around him.

Yugi looked down at his watch as she hugged him. He let her arms stay wrapped around him for 60 seconds. "Okay, you've had your minute hug, time to let go now."

"But I'm still so proud of you."

"Penny," he said in a warning tone as he felt water hit his neck.

She pulled back from him, bracing her hands on his shoulders. "I'd make you a cake, but I know you don't eat sweets."

"A cake? For what?"

"Finding me instead of him."

"Oh."

"For taking positive steps forwards," she hugged him again.

Yugi placed a hand on her stomach, and pushed her away. One hug was his limit. Literally. He couldn't do any more than that. And 60 seconds was pushing it. He preferred 30.

"Okay, spill, what is the rumor going around?"

"I'm not sure, really. I just know that from the minute I walked into this school, I've received more _hugs_ than I can bear."

"So, you don't know what's going around school, you just know it has to do with you, and girls keep trying to give you watery eyed hugs?" Penny guessed.

"Precisely!" Yugi exclaimed jumping to his feet.

"And you came to your own conclusions from this?"

"Yes?"

"What made your thoughts automatically go to Atem?"

"I told him, and him alone about some things from my past. He put the pieces together, and made the puzzle complete. Put the entire picture together."

"And you confirmed it?"

"Yeah. I never should of though, I should've just…" he trailed off with a sad forlorn look.

"Oh, do you need another hug?"

"No," Yugi laughed.

"Finally, a smile," Penny grinned. "Alright let's practice our calming exercises."

"We're going to go upstairs so I can punch the sandbag with my bare fists?"

"Ah, n-no. No, we're not. "

"We're going to go outside so I can scream at the top of my lungs?"

"No."

"I'm going to share all of my troubles with you? Basically rant until I run out of things to say?"

"We can do that."

"I don't want to do that."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Just to see if it was an option."

"It's an option."

"Are we going to meditate?"

"Oh yes, because that worked out so well the first time we tried it."

Yugi snickered, "how about I just listen to some nice and calming music?"

"Do you actually own any?"

"Just because you don't find it calming, doesn't mean the rest of the world doesn't."

"Yugi, if you listen to angry music, then it'll just make you angrier. That's how angry music works."

"Maybe for you, but I find it as a way to vent, without actually having to worry about spilling my guts. I can simply listen to how I'm feeling instead."

"Why don't you try singing it instead?"

"Can I do it over the intercom?"

"No!" she laughed. "You can do it in that room," she said pointing to the room where Penny put students when she wanted to split them up. When she feared that a fight was going to happen in her office, and she didn't want one.

"At the top of my lungs?"

"Go for it."

"Cool. Get ready to hear the best voice in your life singing as horribly as it can, Penny."

"Oh, this is going to be fun."

"Now let's see, how about this one first?" Yugi asked her walking into the other room. He kicked the door shut and turned on Liars and Monsters. This was one of his favorite songs, because it described him perfectly.

 _I am a liar  
I am no model figure  
I am a monster  
and I am ashamed_

 _Call me the devil  
my name's what you prefer  
I come off shameless  
but I am ashamed_

Just the chorus alone is what he sung, but it was enough. It was what he was, truly. There was no denying that that was who he was. Another good one was Demons by Imagine Dragons. It wasn't just one part of it either, it was the whole song. It sang to him on the same level that Liars and Monsters did.

He flipped down to Fragile by Kerli, and sang softly. He hadn't listened to her in ages, but right now, he needed her soft creepy voice whispering in his ear. He still remembered the words of the song. They thought they knew him because they had figured out as much about his past as he did? Yeah, right, that was rich.

 _Hurt me  
see me crawling on the floor  
is that what you've been longing  
hurt me  
is this enough  
do you want more  
go on if it makes you sure_

Hurt Me, by the same artist. He flipped to Linkin Park's Crawling. He didn't know this one by heart, but he didn't think it really mattered. It spoke to him.

 _Crawling in my skin  
these wounds they will not heal  
fear is how I fall  
confusing what is real_

He flipped to Imposter by Red. The near silent melody making him feel as if he was slipping through water. The way the words flowed together made him feel as if he was holding a delicate flower in his hands that was going to fall apart at any moment. It relaxed him, as he sunk to the floor, and sat with his back against one of the walls. He didn't flip to any more songs, he just let the music play as it was. Losing himself in Red's lyrics. Closing his eyes, and just breathing.

Yugi jerked awake. Someone was yelling, their sounds penetrating over the music in his eardrums. He was slumped on the floor, with That Changes Everything by 12 Stones playing in his ears. He sat back up, and took his headphones out, turning off his iPod. He got up, and walked over to the door, to find it locked. He jerked on the handle again, but it was still locked.

His breath started to come in short gasps, as he stumbled away from the door. He was locked in? Why was he locked in? Why would Penny do that to him? She knew how he felt about locked doors. She knew. Why? Why? _Why_? Why would she do this?

He slumped to his knees as the memories started to pour in. He clutched his head. No, no, no. He didn't want to go back there, not there! Years of being behind locked doors, cast in darkness. He was four, nine, and fifteen again. No, no, no, he didn't want to be in the dark again. He didn't want to be in the dark, not again, please no.

He was having trouble breathing. Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe? What was wrong with his lungs? Why couldn't he get any air to them? He needed air, but he couldn't get any. He was going to die, he needed _air_!

"Yugi! Yugi! Stop screaming! Yugi, please! Stop screaming!" Penny was yelling at him.

He suddenly became aware of high pitched keening noise. Like a dog makes when it's hurt. Or a whistle being blown in his ear. And just as soon as he became aware of it, it stopped.

"That's good, that's good, now breathe. Deep breath, come on, deep breath."

He tried taking a deep breath and found he was able to. It was shaky but it was there. He let it back out, and took another. He repeated these steps until he was breathing normally again. He raised his eyes to look at Penny, dropping his hands from his head.

"Good, good, I'm so sorry. I only locked the door to keep Atem out, I'm so sorry," Penny was crying, fear written across her face and so deep in her eyes, it appeared to be an endless pool of it. He patted her shoulder, and she sighed in slight relief. The fear didn't dissipate from her eyes though, if anything it _grew_.

Yugi saw a shadow over her shoulder and looked higher. Principal Umeda was standing in the doorway with Atem hovering behind him. It took all of Yugi's will power to not shoot up, and slam his fist into the latter's face. Instead he looked away, and at one of the cream colored walls.

"Yugi, Atem is very sorry. He didn't expect it to spread all over school," Penny said softly.

"Well it did."

"We know, which is why he's been suspended."

"What good is that going to do? If he's suspended then he'll be kicked out of all clubs and teams. He's the second best runner on the track team. I can't afford to lose him. Please unsuspend him?"

"But-" Umeda started confusion lacing his voice.

Yugi's eyes flicked back up to him. "He wronged me, not you, so please."

"I can't do that. He needs to understand the seriousness of what he's done. He needs to be punished."

"I agree, just not like that."

"How then?"

"Put him on the activities committee."

"What?" Atem snarled. "I'd rather take the suspension."

"Okay, we can do that," Penny said looking up at Umeda. "Right? We can do that?"

"Sounds like an even trade to me," Umeda nodded.

"Seriously, I'll just take the suspension!"

"Congratulations Atem, you've just been bartered out of your suspension. The committee meets every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. I expect you to attend all sessions."

"Oh no, not Wednesdays, he can't do Wednesdays," Yugi said shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"Cause track is Wednesdays," Atem sneered.

"Fine not Wednesdays, but I expect you attend all the others. Miss one, and we'll skip right over that suspension, and go straight for expulsion."

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"No, I'm not, and there won't be any getting out of it either. VP Akiha is the Committee's director."

"Ugh, _thanks_ , Yugi," Atem spat out before turning on his heel and storming off.

"Anytime," Yugi said back, knowing full well the other would never hear him.

"Never thought I'd ever see the day when you actually seemed to care for another student's welfare," Umeda said in an impressed voice.

"Tch, I didn't do it for him. I did it so the team wouldn't lose four, possibly five, of its runners. The sad part is that we still could. They could quit, all of them, at any moment, they could quit. Honestly, I hadn't even expected any of them to show up for that first meeting. I had expect to be stood up."

"They've survived this long, and I think a lot of the school would think less of them if any quit now. Everyone knows who you are, Yugi. There won't be any more hiding in shadows," Penny said softly.

"Yeah, come on, we were supposed to be down on the field twenty minutes ago."

He stood up, and walked out with his head held high. He stopped at the locker rooms and changed before heading out to the track field. He got a mixture of looks. Yami looked worried as his eyes flicked from Atem to him. Akeifa and Marik were throwing their own versions of death glares at him. Jason and Mahad, just looked as if they didn't care. As for Atem, he was ignoring him. It was what he had wanted all along, but was only now getting.

Yugi stretched, and motioned for them to do the same. They did, if some reluctantly. Yugi motioned for them to follow him, and then just ran, he never looked back. He didn't want to. This would really tell him who was interested in the team, and who wasn't. He figured he'd just lost at least three of his runners. Maybe four, it depended on which way Yami swung.

He said nothing. Didn't put his headphones in. Just ran. Lost in the sounds of his feet hitting the slick pavement, wet with a fresh rain he had missed today. He splashed through puddles, spraying mud onto his bare legs, his socks taking in water, making his shoes give off odd squelching noises.

So lost in his own misery, he didn't notice they had made their full run until he was back at the school. Auto pilot, that was what he had run on. He looked at the bench to find no one there, probably had already taken off as soon as he'd turned the corner. He turned around, and staggered back, as if someone had hit him, in surprise. His entire team was collapsed on the ground breathing heavily. Mahad was even clutching his side, as if it was in pain.

"But…" Yugi faded off, having no words for what he was seeing. He was floored. They'd _stayed_? No, they should have left, all facts pointed to it. He had no way of dealing with this. He didn't know _how_.

"But what?" Marik asked.

He opened his mouth only to close it again. No words, that was the only thing going through his minds. No, not the only thing. Loyalty, that was bouncing around in there too. No words for this type of loyalty. He covered his mouth with a shaky hand, before looking away.

"Sergeant?" Jason asked standing up and taking a step towards him.

"I can't…you were supposed to _leave_. Why are you still here?!"

"Because we're as dedicated to this team as you are?" Akeifa pointed out like it was obvious.

"Don't lie to me!"

"We're not lying!" Atem shouted. "We've put a lot of effort into this team, and it'd be a waste if we backed out now!"

"You're going to…stay? All of you?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it."

"Get what?" Yami asked.

"Why do you want to be around me?"

"Honestly, we're still trying to figure that out ourselves. When we do, you'll be the first to know," Mahad said.

"Impossible."

"Why?"

"I can't be the first to know something you figured out first. I'll be the second."

"Okay, fine, you'll be the second to know."

"Anything else you wanted?" Atem asked.

"Yeah, I wanted you to keep your mouth shut. You had no right to do what you did. Then again, I've never really gotten anything I've wanted, so I'm not sure why I expected that to change."

Yugi turned and walked away. He had nothing else to say. He'd just said it. If he stayed any longer, he knew he'd be beating down that urge to beat up Atem again. He didn't want that, so he just left. If he was smart, Atem would stay away from him as much as he possibly could for the next couple of days. Then again, the kid had never been the most intelligent, so he probably wouldn't.

Yugi felt his throat constrict, and his eyes prickle. No, he wasn't go to cry. Crying was for the weak. He wasn't weak, he wasn't going to cry. He wasn't going to breakdown. Not again. Not twice in one day, so he swallowed the feeling, and walked on.

[Time skip]

It was silent at the dinner table. The only sound was knives and forks on plates as they ate their food. It was deafening, and driving Yugi mad. He threw down his utensils, finally having enough of it.

"Will someone please say something?" he asked.

"We got a call from your school today," the female started.

"Oh?"

"Yes, your Principal said you skipped all your classes today. That your Counselor, Penny, had excused you from them due to certain circumstances."

"I see."

"We were also told, that as much as you wanted to beat up the Kodai's son, you didn't go searching for him. In fact, you went seeking Penny instead."

"I thought it would help."

"Did it?"

"Yes."

"Hm, he also explained, that despite all that the Kodai boy had done, you managed to talk him out of a suspension?"

"So?"

"That's a big step."

"Not really. He's vital to our Cross Country team. It would have been a hassle to try to replace him."

"Oh, I see. You didn't so it for him, you did it for yourself."

"That's right."

"Do you ever think of anyone else besides yourself?" the male asked angrily.

"I saved Sennen from getting raped by one of the most disgusting females on the Southside. I wasn't thinking about myself then."

"Oh whoopee dee doo, one good deed hardly counts against all the selfish ones you've committed."

"Heh, what do you know? You gave up on me years ago," Yugi said quietly. He got up and put his dishes into the sink. "I shut you out, so you shut me out. The only reason why you're trying now is because Mira wants you to. Happy wife, happy life, right?" he left the kitchen.

He went into this room, and changed clothes. He put on a pair of grey basketball shorts, and a white tank. Then he grabbed his iPod and left the room. He needed to clear his head, and running always did that for him.

"Yugi," Mira started coming out of the kitchen. He paused, giving her his undivided attention. She alone in this household deserved it. "Why is Penny allowed to hug you, but I am not?"

"I trust her," he replied bluntly.

"I have done nothing to you. So why is it that I don't have your trust too? Better yet, why does my husband still not have it?"

"He abandoned me."

"He did not!"

"You don't get it, do you?"

"It was a misunderstanding."

"The four of them, as a whole, were my rock and foundation. When I was 11 I lost that. When I needed them most, they weren't there! I couldn't find them! I lost my whole world, when my brothers were transferred to another home, _without_ me. I tried to turn to my old family, but found them to be missing. I had no one and nothing! I was alone in this world again! And nobody cared, nobody did. They just thought I was being a troublesome pre-teen. So I left. If I was really that much of a nuisance, I figured…I'd just go."

"I-" she started.

"Don't, just don't. What you really don't understand is that after I was brought back here, they figured I'd just trust them again. They expected it, that nothing had changed between us, when so much had. I wasn't that little boy anymore that saw them as heroes. I saw them for what they weren't. They weren't there. That's all I see whenever I look at them now. My trust for them, the thin threads I had left, snapped when they acted as if there weren't three years of silence between us. It shattered, disintegrated, its ashes being carried off with the wind."

Yugi paused, and looked away from her. Mira said nothing as she just stared at him. Shame, and sadness written across her face. Yugi wasn't done yet though, so continued.

"As for your first question. It is true that you've done nothing to not have my trust, but you also haven't done much to try to earn it either. Penny, when I first came back to Domino, she signed me up to see her every week. Despite trying to shove her away, she just kept coming back, until one day I snapped. And she just took it, all of my hate, anger, and tears, she just took it. When I was done, she asked me if I felt better. I did, oddly enough, after ranting like that for an hour and half straight, I felt loads better. I expected her to run off with the information, in the same way that Kodai had. She didn't though, she kept it to herself. I started to trust her then, and it's just grown ever since. She's always been there, for three years now, she's been right there. That's how trust works. Being there, no matter what difficulties are thrown your way. That's one way my trust is earned. But to gain all of it, well, only four people have ever done that. And that's one secret, you're going to have to discover on your own."

"I have been there!" she argued.

"No, you've been there when you feel you need to be, but you've never actually been here," he paused again, as he sat down to put on his shoes. "I'm going for a run. I don't know when I'll be back. Keep the male here, please. I'm doing this so I can clear my head. Something I can't do with him around."

"Okay, have a nice run. And Yugi?"

"Yeah?"

"If you decide to stay at the Orphanage for the night, at least call and let us know."

"I would, but I don't know the house number."

"Oh, it's 555-2118."

"Sure."

"Thank you."

Yugi left through the front door, not heading for the trail, but instead the park. He should have just stayed home for the night, or perhaps gone on the trail. Instead, he decided to go to the one place fate actually wanted him to be. He went unconsciously to find the truth to his past, and all the secrets it held. For only by discovering the past can we possibly move forward with our future.

 **Questions? Guest from chapter 11: I think they are now. Wi: maybe, guess you're just going to have to continue to read to find out. JaytheAnimeLover4EVER: I'm afraid I can't quite see that far into the future yet. So we'll see. And it looks like that's it. So, thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who has reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	13. A secret's lie

**Here you are. I do not own Yugioh.**

Chapter 13

"You have to be the biggest disgrace any man on this Earth could possibly have been cursed with!" Mr. Kodai yelled at his son.

Yugi stopped and blinked at them as they were coming right at him. Not that either saw him, they were too busying arguing with one another to notice. He looked around before ducking behind the cover of some trees.

"I don't see what the big deal is? Yugi himself admitted that it was true."

"What does he know? Nothing! That's what!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Ugh, come here," he dragged Atem over to a bench. When he tried to shove him on it though, Atem refused to sit. Kodai did though. "What I'm about to tell you, you aren't to repeat to anyone. Especially Mutou. If he were to know…"

Atem scoffed, and looked away from him. That was when their eyes connected. He looked away again, but said nothing to his Father of him being there. "If he were to know what?"

"The truth of his past. It would destroy him. I need your word, Atem, that you won't say a word of this to anyone. Mutou especially."

"Yeah, you have my word," Atem said looking away from him and at Yugi again. Yugi nodded and dipped behind some bushes.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"So, I guess the place to begin would be the age he was when we found him."

"Three right?"

"Right, he was three years old."

There was silence, and Yugi was tempted to peek over the bushes. He knew though, that by doing that, they would make noise. So instead he stayed where he was. Bushes surrounding him, his back pressed against the rough bark of a tree.

"No, this isn't the right place to start. Okay, Sennen, Dorobo, Freshalls, and I were on a victory high. Kulelna hadn't transferred to our precinct until the year after this. We were breaking up drug houses and prostitution corners left and right on the Southside. Then we received this tip that this one house was doing both."

"What does this have to do with, Yugi?"

"Everything," he paused, taking a deep breath before continuing on. "We had no idea that the FBI was watching that house. Had been watching that house for six months now. We busted in with a team of ten, thinking we were all big and bad. We had no idea what we were walking in on, and by doing so, we got two of their undercover agents killed."

"What did you walk in on?"

"A sex trafficking house. Most of those girls had never even seen daylight before. Except through the cracks in their boarded windows. They saw us bust into their home, and they screamed, a lot of people were killed that night. They were just merchandise, they held no life value to the men and women who held them captive. Half of them were stolen from foreign countries and brought here, the others were born into it. Just like Yugi."

Yugi blinked, a flash of a woman with midnight black hair, and ashen green eyes. She was smiling, and so beautiful. Even as a trail of blood slipped from her hairline down her face. Then the image was gone, but what was it? Who was that woman?

"Yugi was born in a sex trafficking house?"

"Yes, yes he was," his voice cracked. "He was one of two boys born into it. The other one was twenty, and had been killed as soon as the first girl we saw screamed at the top of her lungs Popo. She couldn't have been more than 16 years of age. She was shot in front of us. Dead, before she hit the ground. We stormed the house as quickly as we could, splitting up into three teams."

"How did you find him?"

"In the top most room. All of them were soundproofed. We never heard a sound until we entered the rooms. Freshalls and I entered his room, the last one. What we saw sickened us. A 300 pound man was on top of his 38 pound form. He was about to penetrate him, when he pulled him off, bashing his skull in. We hadn't meant to, it just happened. The doctors would later tell us, that he hadn't even been prepped, he was just going to push in as he was."

Yugi heard someone vomit on the ground. He assumed Atem. Another image flashed across his mind. Leering men and women looking down at him, as he clutched a pink high heeled leg. A hand teasing his scalp with manicured nails. And for one small moment, feeling safe and protected. Then the feeling was gone as a gravelly voice whispered in his ear that it was his fault.

He rubbed his forehead, it was starting to hurt. Like a headache was slowly building. Between his brain and his skull, it felt so compressed suddenly.

"I didn't even think of it, I rushed forward, and wrapped him up in a dirty and soiled blanket. I just held him, rocking back and forth saying we were here to help. We were going to get him out of here. He said nothing, just cried, and cried. Freshalls looked around, and saw a teddy bear. He grabbed it, thinking it would help. It didn't. He squirmed and cried harder in my arms, trying to get away from us both. We looked down at it, and discovered that it was male. It had all the body parts of one."

"That's disgusting," Atem said before he retched again.

"A moment of distraction was all it took, as he broke free of my arms and bolted from the room. We were up and after him in an instant. He knew where he was going though. He headed straight for the basement door, and then beyond it, to another door that led further below the home. We nearly damaged the scene of the crime with what we were seeing."

"You almost got sick?"

"Yeah, we did. There was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen hanging by her wrists from the ceiling. Her arms had been dislocated, her face was covered in streams of blood, she was nude, half of her head had been shaved, and there were whips marks all up and down her body. A massive amount of it was congealed on her thighs and, a dry pool of blood was directly below her. It was his words though, that small little three years old words, that almost shattered our strong stomachs though."

"Yugi? He almost broke you?"

"No, he did, he did. Momma. Momma he called her. He begged and pleaded for her forgiveness, for her to wake up. She just hung there though, as he clutched her ankles. We let her down, and he climbed onto her, laying across her form as if she was his natural bed and pillow. Still crying and begging that she forgive him for killing her."

"He killed her?!"

"No, some of the girls said that one of the men, we never found him, told Yugi it was his fault. That if he had never existed, she would still be alive."

"He was three!"

Yugi's eyes glazed over as it all came back to him.

"We tried coaxing him off her dead body, but it wasn't going to happen. That woman was like his lifeline, and he wasn't giving it up. We got him on a gurney, and to the Hospital. When he fell asleep, we separated them. The saddest part though, was when he woke up. He was one of the greatest witnesses we had, for children see all, even when we think they aren't watching. They see, hear, and understand it all. He couldn't remember though. He'd suppressed all the memories. Amnesia. The doctors told us that the events had probably been too much for him, so this was his mind's way of dealing with it."

"Makes sense. I probably would've wanted to forget it all too."

"Some girls came forward and said that they'd like to adopt Yugi, take him in and raise him right. Like the little angel he was. The courts denied them that right, and put him in the Foster system. He's been bouncing from house to house ever since. We should've let them just take him. He would probably be better off if we had."

"Why do you think he blocked it out?"

"If it had been me, I would've wanted to block out men and women using my body to release themselves too."

Yugi blinked, drawing himself from the memories pouring through his mind's eye. No, that hadn't been the reason. It was to block out that it had been his fault. All his fault. If his Mother had never tried to escape with him, they'd still be together, and she alive. If his Father, he'd only seen him once, had taken them both in like he promised, she'd still be here. Though…if he had never been born, she'd still be alive that way too.

"Hey, Dad? Do you think everything happens for a reason?"

"I don't know. I think things just happen, sometimes with no reason to them at all."

"Did they ever touch him? His parents? Like that?"

"No, his Mother adored him, and his Father…well that's for another time. That man, he still disgusts me. He made a promise to Yugi's Mother, to Namine, but when push came to shove, he fell through. Another time though, we'll discuss that another time."

"Okay. I wanna go home. Can we go home now?"

"Yeah, let's go home."

Yugi heard the two walk away. He stood up, from the bushes, swaying slightly. He was so dizzy, and his head hurt. The pain growing with every second. He was a sitting duck. He thought about the safest place closest to where he was. The Hospital. Yeah, he'd go there.

Yugi barely made it as he stumbled into the ER. A Nurse gasped and caught him, he was beyond caring though. She was asking him what had happened, and he figured he should answer her, but couldn't find the words too. Instead he started to ramble on about needing Penny, pennies, just a Penny. He passed out soon after, and would have crashed on the ground if another Nurse hadn't come up to help her.

He remembered nothing much after that. A few lights, voices asking what had happened. Arguing, yeah there was a lot of arguing about him still being an infant, and not near enough ready for sex yet. Wait, was that in the room, or in his head? The voice sounded sweet, like a wind chime being tapped by the gentlest of breezes.

"You promised Gozaburo! You promised me. If you won't take me, then at least take our son. I don't want him growing up here. Please, just take him!"

"The offer still stands at 20gs for both. There is no one over the other. You take the set or you leave."

"We agreed on 15."

"Is that a no then?"

"I can get cheaper pleasures elsewhere. Goodbye."

"Gozaburo! Please! Just take our son! Take Yugi!"

"Sorry, Namine, but you're not worth that much to me."

Yugi jolted up in bed. He reached for the mark on his back. Namine. 1NM. One child to Namine Mutou. 1NM. Or maybe it stood for first? First and last.

"You're awake," Penny surprised voice filled the room.

"Did you know?"

"Know what?"

"That my parents never touched me like _that_?"

"Yes, I knew, and despite an uproarious of disapproval I planned on telling you when you turned 18. How did find out?"

"Officer Kodai. He was telling his son, and I overheard it all."

"Do you hate me?"

"No, I don't think I do. Everyone needs at least one person in their corner, right?"

She gave him a small smile, "yes, they do."

"Where am I?"

"The Hospital. You stumbled in muttering about wanting pennies and needing a Penny. I was the only 'Penny' they knew within a hundred miles, and so they called me. I called your temp parents, and they came with me."

"I'm surprised they're not in here with you."

"No, the Doctors and Nurses had to escort them out. You were delusional earlier, screaming at them that they'd never be your real parents. They had to sedate you. You were trying to get at them to do who knew what. They've been invited to not come back into your room until you give a say so. Mira was heartbroken, and Dilan looked dumbstruck. Like he was seeing an image from his past. Like he wasn't even there."

Yugi looked away, before putting dropping his head into one hand. Déjà vu indeed. Yugi couldn't blame him for feeling that way. "What day is it?"

"Saturday."

"What?" his head shot up.

"You missed yesterday's track practice. They're all very worried."

"What'd you tell them?"

"That you're sick, and taking some time off of school for a little bit."

"I'm not sure if everyone bought that," Yugi said drawing his knees up to his chin.

"Atem didn't. He demanded the truth, and I simply asked him why he had the right to know."

"Can I stay with you?" Yugi asked suddenly.

"What?"

"I can never be happy with the Freshalls. Every time I look at Officer Dilan, all I see is a man whom I pushed away. Pushed away and stayed away. The only one who's actually tried to get back on my good side was Kodai. I may not trust him, but I respect him at least for that."

"Yugi, that's a lot of paperwork."

"Not if you cut corners," Yugi muttered. She gave him this disapproving look. "The Director knows how."

"I'll see what I can do, but I'm not promising anything. To be honest, I've thought about it once or twice. I just never acted on it, afraid you'd reject my offer."

"After you had both my trust and respect, there wasn't a chance of that. You became the only 'Mother figure' I had known."

"Yugi, why do you suddenly want to live with me?"

"I just figured that they wouldn't let me see my Father."

"And neither would I."

"What? Why not?"

"Nobody knows what he looks like, where he is, his name, anything. He was just someone who was and then wasn't."

"Gozaburo."

"What?"

"That's what she said. My Mom. She called a man named Gozaburo my Father."

"Gozaburo?" Penny asked with a shocked look on her face. "As in Gozaburo Kaiba? Head of the FBI in Quantico, Virginia?"

"I don't know," Yugi shrugged. "She just said Gozaburo."

"Yugi…you really do remember it all, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember why you forgot in the first place?"

"Yeah, it was my fault she died. I wanted to forget that. They killed her in front of me, and afterwards they said it was my fault. That if I had never been born, she would still be alive. Then they handed me off to one of my Mother's old clients. Two days later, the Police came, and the life I thought I knew changed. It was a chance to start over, and I took it for all it was worth. I figured, if I forgot everything, then it wouldn't be my fault anymore. It would be someone else's. Kind of silly, huh?" he asked giving her a sad smile.

"It was never your fault," Penny said her arms wrapping around herself.

"I might believe that one day."

 **So...who saw this coming? goddess bubbles-so many questions, where to start? 1. whoever said he would? 2. not really. 3. spoilers! And looks like that's it for questions on the last chapter. Okay. So thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	14. Refugee

**You know, I just realized** **that I never updated this last week. Oh well, I'm sure I made up for it in some way or another. I do not own Yugioh, or any of the songs used in this fic. Enjoy!**

Chapter 14

The bell tinkled as he walked into the shop. Sampson appeared from the back, and froze at seeing him standing there. He brushed his hand over some of the CDs, before looking up at him.

"They let you out already?" he asked.

"Mm, not exactly."

 _Yugi distracted the Nurse as she led him from one room to another. He pointed out an even sicker patient that was struggling to walk. She tsked and went to help them instead. Yugi made a break for the nearest fire escape. He burst into the sunlight, well aware that he was still wearing the Hospital gown, but not caring._

 _He went to the temp home, sneaking into his bedroom window. After changing clothes he slipped back out the window. He really didn't know what to do, so he came here. He wasn't allowed to go to school until Wednesday. That was tomorrow, but from the way the Doctors had been talking it wouldn't be until_ _ **next**_ _ **week**_ _Wednesday. So, he just left._

"Yugi, they're going to be worried sick," Sampson reprimanded.

"So? It's not my problem. Do you need any help around the store?"

"I always need help around the store." Yugi looked down at his feet, scuffing his shoe on the floor. "What is it?"

"I know you said you were never hiring stupid employees, but I was wondering…"

"Oh sure, now he asks," Sam muttered. "You're hired, but because this is your first job I'm only paying you minimum wage. And for Arizona that would be $8.05."

"But I thought-"

"You are the furthest thing from an idiot that I can find."

"Heh, thanks. Oh, and I listened to those Linkin Park CDs. Was there anything else that you think I might like?"

"I have a whole pile."

"Bring'em on!"

"First up, KillSwitchEngage Album Disarm the Descent."

"I like the sound of that already."

"I'll put it on while you get to work, Soldier."

"Aye aye, Captain!" he said saluting him.

"Go!"

Yugi laughed for the first time in days, as he made his way towards the back. The bell tinkled behind him, and he looked over his shoulder. Great, just the group he didn't want to see today.

"Yugi!" Yami cried cheerfully making a beeline for him with arms wide open.

His widened and he ducked into the backroom quickly. Sampson, for someone his age, moved just as quick, slamming his hand against the frame, blocking Yami's war path. He halted to a stop as he turned innocent eyes on him.

"Employees only. You understand right?"

"You know, it's really too bad that adults don't listen to minors more often," Marik chuckled from the other room.

"They don't know him as well as we have come to," Jason said.

"What do you mean?" Sampson asked.

"Well, they came to our school saying he was missing from the Hospital."

"We told them he probably wasn't missing, he just escaped," Atem said.

Yugi grinned. That was what he had done. Still though, according to the law, he was missing.

"We tried to tell them of the places he'd most likely be, but they didn't listen to us. They said we were just children, what did we know about the little runaway?" Akeifa explained further.

"A lot more than they did," Atem scoffed.

"Really?" Yugi asked appearing in the doorway again, and tapping Sampson's arm off of it.

"Of course! We're the ones who found you, not them!"

"Is it true?" Yami asked.

"Is what true?" Yugi asked.

"That you're leaving the Freshalls to live with Counselor Yoru?"

"One can only hope."

"But they've done so much for you!" Akeifa shouted.

"No, they've just scratched the surface. I gotta say though, that's definitely more than the rest of my Foster homes have ever done."

"Tch, Coach Yoru is barely within this school's district. So at least we'd still get to try to be friends with you."

"I think the more appropriate words would be annoy, anger, and harass him," Atem chuckled. "Besides, out of all of us, I'm the only one who actually knows him. My father t-"

Yugi saw grey, and when it cleared, Atem was holding his nose, as it gushed blood. He lunged at him again, and Sampson horse collared him, before yanking him back into his arms, and holding tight.

"Yugi, calm down, beating him up won't solve anything."

"I'm not so sure. I think it'll make me feel better."

"I think you broke my nose," Atem said pulling his and away from it.

"Hasn't anyone ever told you it's better to hug and love, than it is to hit and hate?" Yami asked going over to his boyfriend.

Yugi laughed. Real laughter just spilling from his mouth. Oh, this kid, he could be so incredibly naïve. "No, nobody has ever told me. They told me I needed to do what I had to to survive. When you're only one child among 20 others, you learn quickly that it's either fight or die."

"You've lived in a home that had 20 kids in it?" Mahad asked.

"No. It was 25. 20 just sounded better."

"I think you're exaggerating," Atem hissed as Akeifa fixed his nose.

"He's not. He lived in two like that. One was broken up when it was discovered that the older children were being allowed to sexually abuse their younger foster sisters. The other one was smuggling coke into the Southside, and were using the children as distributors."

Yugi relaxed in Sampson's arms, and he released him. Yugi didn't make any move towards Atem though. If anything, he moved as far from him as he could get.

"You claim to know him, but you don't know a damn thing. Get out of my store, now."

They all left. Yugi looked at the floor. He was going to be arrested for sure. He really broke his parole now by hurting an Officer's child. Geez, why was he so fucked up?

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Yugi, I meant about what Penny told me on the phone a couple of days ago. Are you okay?"

Yugi looked over at him with a sad smile. "I hardly know."

Sampson nodded before telling him to get to work. It would hopefully take his mind off of things. He'd try to put on KillSwitchEngage again, if they weren't interrupted again. Yugi smiled before going into the backroom again.

He felt sort of bad about this, but there wasn't any other way. Not really. He needed to meet this Gozaburo, and going to Virginia was the only way. A plane ticket alone would cost him between $350 and $500. That didn't include a hotel, taxi, or anything else he might need.

He shook the thoughts from his head, and started to stack CDs. He listened to the rock music on the other room as it played. He didn't exactly pay attention to the words, but it was okay. The bass alone stilled his thoughts, as he just lost himself to it.

[Time skip]

Yugi stood there glaring at the two officers standing on his porch when he got home from track the next day. One was twirling a pair of handcuffs, the other was holding a piece of paper. Both looked like they'd rather be anywhere else right now.

He dropped his backpack, and curled his finger at them twice. Neither took the bait, and stayed exactly where they were. Smart men, he thought as he nodded at them. This didn't stop him from taking up a fighting stance though, he knew they'd have to approach him eventually. There was no way he was going up to them.

"Come on, Mutou. Let's not make this harder than it has to be," the one holding the paper said.

"But where's the fun in that? If you want me, then I'm afraid you're going to have to require some honor marks."

"We don't want honor marks," the one with the handcuffs growled.

"Then uh, carry on," he said motioning for them to leave.

"We can't go back without you."

"That's not my problem."

"Please, just come with us. We won't even handcuff you.

"We won't?"

"Not if we can get him in the car we won't."

"Hm, that's tempting. Just not enough, so I think I'll pass. Thanks."

The one sighed, as the other started his death walk down the front steps. Yugi raised an eyebrow at him, as he turned and went back to the car, and got in. The other looked confused as he flapped his mouth before talking into the walkie talkie strapped to his shoulder.

"What are you doing?"

"Looks like he's being smart."

"But we can't go back without him."

"Sure you can."

"I guess, but I think that's why they sent us to."

"Are the rest of them cowards? Sending the underdogs out to do the dirty work? Typical. Don't they know? If you want the job done right the first time, then you have to do it yourself?"

"Fine," he sighed into it, before coming down the steps himself. "Don't get comfortable."

"No, of course not," Yugi said picking up his backpack again and heading into the home.

The male stopped as he made his way to the living room. He looked at Yugi, and then past his shoulder out to the porch area. Yugi stepped aside so he could get a better look.

"How did you get inside?"

"I opened the door."

"Heh, funny."

"Next time send some men to get the job done, not a couple of boys. What is it for this time anyway?"

"To take you back to the Hospital. Apparently they weren't done running tests on you."

"That's it?" Yugi asked in a surprised tone that the male caught.

"Was there something else that you thought they were here for?"

"No, of course not. Why would there be?"

"You tell me."

"No, I can't think of anything."

"Hm, are you sure? Cause it seems like you were."

"Are you sure you're just not misinterpreting the tones of my voice?"

"Positive. What did you do _now_?"

"Nothing. I'm only missing." Yugi smirked smugly at him before kicking the door shut and going to his room. He was going to do some more research on the cost of Virginia. He did the math of the hours Sampson had given him, and the pay he would be receiving each month. $579.60 every month. He added up how much he would have by the end of April. $2,898.00. He was aiming for spring break, so he guessed that this would have to be enough. He hoped this would be enough.

 _Knock. Knock._

"Yugi, they're back," the female said through the door.

"Tell them to go to hell. I'm busy."

"Alright."

She moved away from the door, and Yugi got up from his desk chair. He walked over to his boom box, and put in Three Days Grace album One-X. Another band that Sampson thought he'd like. He cranked up the bass, and flipped it to where he had left off. A song called Animal I Have Become. He nodded his head to it, as he typed Gozaburo into his search engine. Wow, that name had a lot of hits to it.

"They'd rather just have your cooperation with this," she yelled through the door.

"I'm sure they would. I'm just not feeling it though."

"Yugi!"

"Mira!"

"What did you call me?"

"Mira. It's your name right?"

"Sweetie! He called me Mira! Yes, it does! Oh, yeah, you're right."

Yugi cracked up laughing. If he had known that it would be that easy to distract her, he would've started off with her name. As it was, he decided he would humor her. He walked over to his door and turned the knob slowly, giving her a chance to back up from the door. He didn't think anyone would find it amusing if he jerked it open on her like had done on Atem that one time.

"You good?" he asked before opened the door. Just to make doubly sure she was in the clear though.

"I'm good!"

He opened the door, the bass from his room filling the house, and shaking the portraits on the walls. Two of the now four officers by the door slapped their hands over their ears. Aw, didn't they like his music? He saw one mouth if the music could be any louder?

"Do they want me to turn it up?"

Mira looked over at the men by the doorway. She shook her head. "I think they want you to turn it down!"

Yugi smirked before leaning against the doorframe. That wasn't happening. He was starting to like this band. This album, so turning it down really wasn't an option.

"They just need to finish a few checkups, and then you can come back here!" the male yelled.

He rolled his, eyes scoffing, and going back into the room. He turned down the bass, and the volume. He came back to lean against the doorframe. He didn't want to yell more than he wanted to keep up with rocking the house with his bass.

"No, they've done enough. They've had me since last week. I'm sorry if they're not satisfied, but that's not my problem. I have school. I can't live my life out in a Hospital bed."

"No one is asking you to," one of the Officers sighed. Yugi recognized the guy as the one whom he had given a black eye to the last time they came round.

"They'd find a hundred reasons to keep me there. I've seen it before. I'm not going to become one of their permanent patients."

"They said they only have three more."

"Bullshit. When I was there yesterday, I heard a Doctor tell a Nurse they wanted to do ten more tests on me."

"We have a warrant to use force if you don't come willingly."

"That's not the dilemma though, is it?"

"We really don't want to use force."

"I bet you don't. Because you're concerned about how much I will hurt if you try to."

" _Please_ ," he begged.

" _No_."

"Carson, do it."

"But what about the others?"

"Collateral damage."

"Um, okay." He hoisted a cannon type of object onto his shoulder.

Yugi gasped, and grabbed Mira. He jerked her into his room, and made a beeline for his window. Opening it quickly, he shoved Mira out first, before jumping out after her. A gas like green smoke started to pour out of the window. Jerking Mira to her feet, he had her climb over their neighbor's fence, before jumping over it himself. He didn't stop there though, he forced her over another fence, and into Sennen's backyard if he recalled.

He pounded on the door, and Mr. Sennen opened it looking confused as hell. He pushed Mira into their house without question, before running over to the back part of his fence and hopping it. He did this for several more fences, before he knew he was close to the school. He hopped the fence again, and ran towards the school.

He was just crossing the gate when he heard sirens behind him. He made every runners mistake and looked over his shoulder. There were three cop cars coming towards the school. Damn it! They most likely had at least two passengers in each one too. Shaking his head, he picked up his pace, and ran around the school, until he came to the manhole in a rather grassy area. He lifted it, and slipped into the sewage below, the cover clanging back into place above him.

It rank, but nothing near bad enough to make him vomit. He waded through the sewage, past several ladders until he came to one marked by silver paint. He started to climb, he carefully lifted the cover of this manhole, and looked around before opening it fully. There was no one around. He climbed out, and put the cover back in place.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked around to find nothing had changed. He was back in the ghetto. Near one of his old foster homes. Not the one that was using kids as distributors. Near the one where the kid Mario lived. He knew the Mother here hated his guts, but what choice did he have? Anyone else would turn him back over to the Police. And by default Domino Hospital. He needed a safe spot until tomorrow, until he could talk to Penny. She would help him out, he hoped.

He walked the two blocks over to a street market, and hosed himself down. He wished he had grabbed his hoodie, but it was too late for that. After that, he walked three more blocks, before coming up to the apartment that he hoped she still lived in. Mashialto, floor three, apt 6C. Yep, was still here. He buzzed up, and her voice came over the speaker.

"Who is it? S.S.?"

"No, Runner."

"Run-what do you want?"

"I need a place to stay for the night."

"What did you do now?"

"That's my business."

"Then you don't need a place to stay."

"I was unwilling to go back to the Hospital to become their personal experiment."

"Fine, but it's only for one night."

"Thanks, Kelly."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm way too soft."

The door buzzed, and Yugi headed up. There were two new kids in her home, but Mario and Margaret were still there. Yugi nodded at them, as he took up residence on the couch. Kelly came into the room carrying a spare blanket and pillow.

Kelly was a blonde curly haired woman, with grey-blue eyes. She was petite, and had a soft temper. She had put up with him for three weeks before becoming tired of him. She kept him around though, he was valuable. The only reason she had kept him for one and a half months though, was because he kept the gangs away from her other foster kids.

Even though everyone knew that he had vacated this family over a year ago, no one was willing to come near them still. Yugi had done that easily, by being assertive with himself. He could disarm one man, and knock out another in one move. They still felt as if he protected this family, so they stayed away. He had a rep on the streets, and everyone who had known him when he lived here, knew of it. No one messed with him, or his little weak things.

Sure they had tried to recruit him, but that had ended when he almost killed one of Jaden's right hand men. All the gang lords tended to steer clear of him after that. He smiled at Margaret, and she just waved at him. It seemed that none of them really knew what to do about this.

"Okay, everyone, it's been a very exciting day, so why don't we all take a night cap?"

Did he mention that she was one of those Mothering types that he didn't like? She threw the pillow and blanket at him, not seeming to care if it hit him or not.

"Thanks, Kelly."

"You better be thankful. I want you gone by 7:00 am though."

"Alright, I'll be gone when the sun hits my face."

"Good! I'm not holding a refugee hideout here."

"Really though, Kelly, _thank_ _you_."

"I only did it because I didn't want to see another Venus, and Saturn."

Yugi's eyes went downcast. He hadn't wanted to become the twins either. That's why he had come to her. Nodding he put the pillow down, beating it slightly, before pulling up the blanket, and trying to get some sleep.

"Goodnight, Yugi."

"Night, Kelly."

The lights went out, and only the street lamp shined in through the window. It shined across his eyes, as he stared at the ceiling, arms folded behind his head. He wasn't even close to tired. So he just lay there, waiting for sleep to come. It never did, and he spent the whole night staring at the ceiling, wondering if the Freshalls were alright.

He had saved Mira, but that was the only one he could save from the toxic fumes of either the sleeping gas, or laughing gas. He was still unsure of which one it was, but it couldn't have been anything else. His weak brothers though, and the male, Dilan. His thoughts strayed to if they were okay. It kept him up all night long.

The first rays of light surprised him, as they filtered in through the window. Still a deal was a deal. He sat up, and walked down the hallway, using the bathroom. Coming back, he folded up the blanket and set it down on the table. He left the apartment without a word.

Grabbing the first bus out of the ghetto, he arrived back in the high end of Domino, around 6:30 am. There was popo everywhere, forcing him to be extra careful as he made his way to the school. He managed to make there unseen, somehow, but he did.

Penny was talking to an Officer out front. He winced, he had hoped to get to her first. Making his way around the school, he came upon one of the back doors. The Janitor was coming out of it, and Yugi caught the door before it closed all the way. He slipped inside unnoticed, and went to Penny's Office.

Oh, he was going to get in so much trouble for this, but he didn't have much of a choice. By Penny's side was the only place that they couldn't touch him. His gut told him so. His gut was hardly ever wrong. Taking a bobby pin out of his hair, he inserted it into the lock, and moved it around until it clicked. He took it back out, and opened the door. Shutting the door, he locked it back up before turning around to find Chief Kodai sitting in Penny's desk, looking highly amused.

 **So, for those of you who aren't aware of it. I posted the new story of my vampire trilogy series. A Small Piece of Forever. Things are about to get hot and spicy with this one. Now lets see, questions? PhyschicEevee0103-yes, that precisely** **the point. Alright, thank you to everyone** **who have/are favorited/following this story. Also thanks to everyone who have reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	15. Weakness

**I do not own Yugioh. Enjoy!**

Chapter 15

"You're far more predictable than most give you credit for," Kodai said standing up. "Where've you been all night?"

Yugi looked away, not answering him. How had he known that he would show up here? In Penny's office? Looking for a specific shelter he couldn't find anywhere else?

"Okay, how about you tell me what part you eavesdropped on? My son told me you overheard our conversation in the park. After he came home with a bloody nose."

"Everything. _Why_? Why did you let me believe for so long that my parents abused me?"

"We believed it was better than the truth."

"Why would that _ever_ be better than the truth?! To live this long and think that my parents laid a dirty hand on me. No, you're wrong, any truth would be better than that! No child deserves to ever _believe_ that their parents abused them. No one! My Mother, she did nothing but love me! Protect me." He collapsed to his knees, wrapping his arms around himself. He tried to fight back the tears, but a few still slipped out.

"You…you remembered?"

"You're so stupid."

"What?"

"You honestly think I would have wanted to forget that men and women alike fucked me for their own sordid pleasures?"

"Of course. What else could it possibly have been?"

"My Mother? I was forced to watch as she slowly died in front of me, and then was told it was my fault. You offered me a new life. New memories. I wanted to forget that it was my fault she had died, all my fault. That's why I shoved them away. It was my fault, and I wanted to forget that."

"No, it was never your fault. You were three, and they were grown adults. How can you possibly believe it was your fault?"

"I was three. How could I think it wasn't when I was told so repeatedly for two days that it was?"

He opened his mouth, but had no response and so closed it again. He opened his mouth again, "but we found you the same day she was killed."

"No, you didn't."

"No! I haven't seen him! And even if I had, I most certainly wouldn't tell you!" Penny yelled from the other side of the door. Yugi scrambled away from it, so he wasn't hit when it opened. The door swung open and Penny's facial expression went from pissed to happy in two seconds flat. "Yugi!"

"What?"

 _Bang!_

"Son of a Bitch! That was my nose!"

The door re-opened. "What did you call me?" Penny asked in that dangerous voice that only a woman could accomplish. The one that made shivers go up _and_ down a man's spine. The one that basically said _'repeat what you just said,_ _ **I**_ _ **dare**_ _ **you**_ _'_.

"I was talking to the door, Miss, not you," he said before running off. Yugi caught a glimpse of brown hair, and dark skin, but that was it. The man was gone.

"Smart officer," Yugi told Kodai.

"He grew up with a single parent Mother and six sisters," Kodai responded back.

Yugi had no response to that. The only thing that was going through his mind was that he would probably be a good wife pleaser. If he wasn't already married that was.

"So, where were you all night?" Penny asked closing her door again.

"At an old friends."

"You went to Benson?"

"No, I said I was at an old friends, not my Brother's place."

"Of course how silly of me to assume that when all the info you give me is an old friends."

"It's more information than I got out of him."

"George, what can I possibly do for you?"

"Actually I was waiting for you."

"For me? Why?"

"Your recent request has been denied."

"Why? Would it not benefit everyone if he were to move in with me?"

"I think it would."

"So why did they deny it?"

"Uh something about something about something."

"It can't be that bad of a reason."

"It's…you really don't want to hear their reasoning."

"Oh no, I think I really do."

"No, you _really_ don't." he was practically begging her to not have him tell her from his tone alone.

"Tell me, or I will tell your wife that you're withholding information."

He paled considerably, "you wouldn't."

She walked over to her phone and they both watched as she stared to dial in a number. Yugi couldn't see what it was, but Kodai could as she was standing right there. She put the phone to her ear, and he jammed his finger on the receiver.

"They don't want him to live with you, because they're afraid if he does they'll never see him in court again," he said in a rush as he pulled his finger off of the receiver.

Yugi and Penny both blinked at the same time. They shook their heads and looked at one another. They were both trying to process this information, but neither of them could. Surely, they must have misheard the reasoning. Because if that was seriously it, then…what?

"I'm sorry, what?" Penny asked frowning.

"I don't want to say to again."

"They don't want me to move in with Penny, because they're afraid I'll never appear in court again?" Yugi said slowly.

"Phew, I didn't have to say it again."

Yugi and Penny looked at one another before busting up with laughter. Oh, he had them going for a second there. That had to be the dumbest reasoning ever, that it couldn't possibly be true. That was a really good prank. He knew Kodai could be such a good kidder?

"Good one. Now what's the real reasoning?"

"That is the real reasoning."

"You can't be serious?" Penny asked.

"Believe me, I wish I wasn't."

"They want to see me in court more? Fine, they got it!"

"Yugi," Penny said in a stern tone. He immediately calmed down.

"I need your help," Yugi admitted looking up at Penny.

"Is this about that Hospital thing?"

"What Hospital thing?" Kodai asked.

"What do you mean what Hospital thing? You have your entire armada out looking for him!"

"What are you talking about?" Kodai asked laughing uneasily. "When the Hospital reported him missing a couple of days ago I shrugged it off. He's 17, if he wants to compromise his own health, well more power to him. Besides, hadn't they covered all the basic tests? They said yes, but they still wanted to do a few more. I told them I'm sorry, but that wasn't my call. As long as he's not a real danger to himself or anyone else, then I'm not going to send my men out looking for him."

"How did they take that?" Penny asked her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Not very well. It's not their call or mine though. The only person who has that call is the Director. Not even the Freshalls can send him back to the Hospital against his will. According to the State he's still technically a ward of his, until he is officially adopted by a family. He won't ever be, so he's still one of the Director's wards until he turns 18."

"Would the Director do that though?"

"Would you if you knew the one you were trying to force to go could hand your ass to you on a shiny silver platter, with little to no effort on their part?"

"No."

"So, we have a rat somewhere. Wonderful, just what I need right now. People acting of their own accord behind my back."

"What're you going to do about it?" Yugi asked crossing his arms and leaning against one of the walls.

Kodai slowly stood up from the desk. "Obliterate it," he answered with the hardest look in his eyes that Yugi had ever seen. Yugi nodded, and looked towards Penny. He wasn't sure at this point what was going to happen to him, but he was still certain that this woman could help him.

Kodai left without a word to either of him. Yugi wasn't sure what he was going to do exactly, but he was sure it be explosive. The town was going to be rocked by it, and maybe heal too. Yugi stared at the carpet for a few more seconds before looking up at Penny, a question already on his lips.

"Are they okay? Are they alive?"

"Ryou and Malik were shoved out of the living room window by Dilan. Kind of in the same way that you pushed Mira outside of yours? Dilan will be okay, as soon as he recovers. He breathed in a lot of that gas. Mira just kept asking if you were okay. She's an emotional wreck."

"I expected that of her, but I admit that I didn't expect Dilan to react that fast. It's surprising but relieving. He is strong, but they are so weak."

"Like Yami?"

"No, they have more strength than that."

"It's only a matter of time, Yugi. I can see it every day, Atem, trying to discover your weakest point."

"I don't care. Even if he does figure it out, he has no knowledge of using to his advantage. As far as I know, you're the only one who figured that out."

"Only me?"

Yugi smirked, "well, you and my brother's. They're the ones who made me strong though, and taught me that weakness to go with my strength. Protect the weak, and punish the strong."

"Go, attend your classes, but stay away from the others."

"That's easy, but will they stay away from me?"

"No, it's a fool's wish to think they would too."

"We have a meet next weekend."

"Yes, and track today. If those cops come within five feet of any of us, I'll beat them until they become the ground."

"I'll pass that on. Though, I think the scary part is that they know you can back up your words. They're not just empty threats."

"I guess that's one of the good things about having a rep. It's not just all show, it's a real fact of life too."

"To class, Yugi."

"See you later, Penny, and thank you."

"You're welcome."

[Time skip]

It was six days later when he first heard about it. Chief Kodai had caught six dirty cops within his precinct. It wasn't just that though, there was others involved in the grand scheme too. Three doctors, and one judge. Not just any judge though, the one in charge of Social Services Affairs.

He was at the head of it, really. He would slip names to his pocket police men, of troublemakers who he thought would be better off off the streets of Domino. Instead of having them arrested though, they would find a way to put them in the mentally unstable part of the Hospital. Whether they actually were or not, was looked over casually by the three doctors in on the whole thing.

The whole thing probably would've been able to just been swept under the rug, for no one was turning on anybody else, if one of the doctors hadn't been so meticulous in his record keeping on his personal computer. As it was, the evidence was too vast to ignore. The cherry on top though, was all the names they found that were involved in this scandal. All were arrested by Chief Kodai himself.

Some of the newscasters questioned how he could let this go on for 13 years now? He said he was unaware of it until one of the men forged a warrant under his name to arrest one Yugi Mutou, and have him escorted back to the Hospital. The newscaster went on to tell the entire world why this name sounded familiar. She gave a brief explanation of his association with a sex trafficking group that he was born into and rescued from at the age of three. And then how he went missing for three years at the age of 11, only to resurface at the age of 14. He'd been under constant surveillance since then.

Yugi lost interest during this part, until they talked about how they were releasing all the orphans, abused, and troubled children from the Hospital that had no business being kept in a mental ward. She then gave a long list of about 25-35 names. On it was Venus and Saturn. Yugi smiled, and promised himself that he'd go to greet them when they walked out into the fresh and free air again.

For now though, he grabbed his backpack and headed out the door early to school. Penny had said that there was something she wanted to discuss with him. The only thing he'd been able to drag out of her about it over the phone though, was lines and track meet. She refused to tell him anything else.

"No! Absolutely not! I'd rather forfeit than have them run _this_."

"I've tried to get them to rethink this, but they just won't listen."

"Mira, Spades works here, Monsoon here, and Titan here. The idiots who designed this may not know the streets in the ghetto, but I do, like the back of my hand. They're not running it. Spades is the one, if you recall, who sent her goons to Upper Domino in hopes of laying them on Yami. We're not running this, period."

"What do you suggest then?"

"We forfeit. If they won't change their minds, than we concede the run."

"The others will be put out by that."

"I don't care! I want them safe, and this track course isn't it!"

"Don't yell at me! I didn't make it!"

"Right, no, you're right, you didn't. Your reasoning failed, let's see if I can reason with them."

"Alright," she said dialing the number and handing him the phone.

Yugi was on the phone for 30 minutes trying to get them to change their minds. After arguing the entire time, he shouted through the line that if they thought it was so safe, why didn't they go run it? They said they would, just to prove the point that it was, before hanging up. Yugi frowned, that…was unexpected. He shrugged and handed the phone back to Penny.

"I think they might change it."

"We can only hope. Now, off to class with you."

"Yes, Ma'am!" he saluted her and then left.

[Time skip]

Yugi stood outside the Hospital, Friday morning, playing hooky from his morning classes. Unfortunately, this meant that his track team had followed him, and were also playing hooky. He'd tried to convince them to get to school, but it was no dice, they were firm on staying with him.

He was feeling high with power. The Cross Country Track Team Organization had called yesterday evening, having gotten Mira's number from Penny, to inform him that they had decided that it was in everyone's best interests to change the track course to the streets of Upper Domino only.

 _"_ _Whatever for?"_

 _"_ _Don't get smart! We're doing this for the benefit of you children."_

 _"_ _Don't be ridiculous. I can handle myself on the streets, I have a rep out in that area, and it was everyone else I was worried about. They've grown up in fancy homes, with love and care. Weak little things who know nothing about the harsh facts of life. It's live or die in the ghetto, there's no in between."_

 _"_ _Hm, well, do you know someone named Titan or Monsoon, or even Spades."_

 _"_ _I've had run-ins with the last two, but never met the first. Why?"_

 _"_ _Spades says that it's too bad you're being such a pussy, she would have loved to see your charming friend again. What did they call him, the little lamb? Monsoon says to stay off his turf, he doesn't need you knocking off Tornado like you did Tsunami. And Titan says he would love to meet the infamous Mutou who caused havoc and ruin to his neighbors in such a short amount of time. Says he'd like to go toe to toe with you, just to see if you're as strong as they claim."_

 _"_ _Hmph, no to Spades, okay to Tsunami, and I don't fight babies to Titan. I heard of his rep, or what little of it that there was. He's the saint among the other gangs there, not even worth my time."_

 _"_ _I don't know, they all looked pretty strong to us."_

 _"_ _They're not, and their crews are even less so."_

 _"_ _Were you involved in gang life at some point? I mean to say, were you in one?"_

 _"_ _Bite your tongue, you insolent male. I have_ _ **never**_ _nor would I_ _ **ever**_ _ **be**_ _in a gang. They pray on the weak, and glorify the strong. I protect the weak and punish the strong. It's as simple as that. Their beliefs would conflict with my morals, what little of them that there are."_

 _"_ _Oh, we see. Well, we sent the new blueprints to all coaches, and we hope you approve."_

 _"_ _There're only the two, right?"_

 _"_ _Yes."_

 _"_ _Okay. See you Saturday, bye!"_

 _"_ _Uh, yes, bye."_

Yugi was jolted out of his musing by seeing the doors of the Hospital opening up, and children, men, and woman pour out of the Hospital. Among them were the tall lanky forms of Saturn and Venus. He grinned, raised his hand and called out their names.

"Saturn! Venus!"

"Yugi!"

They ran straight for him. The last time he'd seen these two, they were 15 years old. Now, they were both 20 years old. Plus, they'd grown even taller. They hugged him before they realized what they were doing, and tried backing off. He just gave them a quick squeeze back though, before they could, letting them go after that.

"How's Kelly?" Venus asked.

"Still doesn't like me."

"Can you blame her?" Saturn asked.

"Nope!"

"Do you think she knows we were let out?"

"Oh I think she got the memo," Yugi replied as Kelly ran over to them, with her other four children in tow.

"Shouldn't you be in school, Mr. Mutou?" Kelly asked hugging one girl and then the next.

"Probably, but you know me, playing hooky is just second nature."

One of her younger ones, pulled on his pant leg, and he squatted down to see what he needed. He held out a noodle necklace to him. Yugi was very hesitant to take it. The kid insisted though, when he climbed into Yugi's lap and put it around his head.

"Kelly say you good man. So I make that in class for you. I carry 'round in case I see you 'gain."

"Oh, uh, thank you little man," Yugi said fighting down a blush and ruffling his hair. He stood back up and levelled a look at Kelly. "Why'rre you teaching them bad things?"

"You're not a bad person, Yugi. Accept it."

"Whatever."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For giving me Venus and Saturn back."

"Oh, I didn't do that, Chief Kodai did. All Penny and I did was alert him to a possible scandal in his precinct."

"I don't care," she grabbed him by the back of his head, and pulled him into her chest. Yugi tensed up immediately, but like Mira, he didn't hit her. Simply put his hands on her waist and gently pushed her away. He still wasn't comfortable with physical touching. He wondered if he'd ever be.

"You're welcome, Kelly. I have to get them to school though," Yugi said nodding his head in his track team's direction.

"Oh, isn't that one related to that corrupt Judge?" Venus asked pointing at Jason.

"Yeah, something he's greatly ashamed of."

"So tell us, who's the weakest one?"

"Him." Yugi replied pointing straight at Yami. The kid actually looked around to see if he was pointing at someone else. Priceless. "His parents raised him on Princes and Princesses. Disgusting."

"Unicorns and rainbows too?" Saturn laughed.

"Yeah," Yugi grinned up at her. He picked his backpack off the ground, turning to leave.

"Yugi," Kelly said softly. He turned to her. "Don't be a stranger, okay?"

"I thought you hated me?"

"I hate your attitude. You though, you've always been a good kid."

Yugi smiled softly before walking away. It was getting a little too mushy for his comfort. He walked past his track team, hooking his fingers into Mahad's collar as he went, and dragging him away. The rest just followed.

He glanced back at Atem once to see him smirking at him. He blinked slowly, before walking into the building. Strolling into class like he owned the room. It wasn't until later that Atem accosted him.

"I've got it."

"What?"

"Your weak spot is right here," he said shoving Jason, Yami, and Mahad forward. Yugi slowly clapped, mocking him, his brilliance.

"So? What are you going to do with that information?"

"Uh, I don't know. I just thought…"

"You just thought that if you had my weakness I'd lighten up or something? I'd become vulnerable? Yeah, wishful thinking."

"Well, there has to be some way to use it."

"Hey, Mutou, you're an asshole!" Akeifa said.

Yugi lunged at him, as he quickly pulled Yami in front of him. Yami cowered as he threw up his hands, his eyes squeezing shut. When nothing came though, he slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms. Yugi was lowering his fist which he had barely stopped from smacking Yami's temple with the force of a 65 mile fast pitch.

"Bastard," Yugi growled at Akeifa.

"And that Atem is how you use it," Akeifa said.

"Don't use my boyfriend as a shield ever again," Atem growled at him yanking him into his arms. As soon as Yami was clear, Yugi finished the job on Akeifa, who'd be sporting a pretty little bruise over his right eye tomorrow.

"I'd thought you'd have learned by now to never take your eyes off of me."

"Jerk."

"Hmph, while you can use it that way, I would suggest you don't. I can't stop my fist every time, and I'd hate to hit the weaker ones. Goes against my nature."

"Oh, you mean you have a kind nature? Tch, could have fooled us," Marik grumbled.

"That's the idea," Yugi whispered before stretching and taking his mark. He ran around the track, really ran. He didn't just run to run, he ran. I mean he was a runaway, so everyone once awhile he needed to just _run_.

 **Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	16. I wish

**Sorry this seems so late, but good things are worth waiting for, no? I apologize to any 21 Pilot fans in advance. It was the first band that popped into my mind. So! I do not own Yugioh, or 21 Pilots. Enjoy!**

Chapter 16

Yugi panted as he stopped in front of Penny with a grin as wide as the mile. She was just shaking her head at him, as he moved over to the benches, and sat down. He was waiting for the rest of his team.

Atem and Yami sat by him first. Followed by Akeifa, Marik, Jason, and Mahad. Mahad had come in last. Big surprise there. Yugi wasn't impressed. He looked over at the two coaches going over the scores, before Penny made her way over to them.

"You guys didn't come in second," she said bluntly before walking away.

"So what place did we get?" Yami asked.

"Hey, how did he become a senior again?" Marik asked.

"Sometimes…I don't know," Atem said shaking his head.

Yugi growled in annoyance before hooking Yami's collar and pulling him close. "Listen, Lamb, if there are only two teams and we didn't get second, what place do you _think_ we came in?"

"Oh! First!"

"Good boy." Yugi patted his head before stretching and walking off.

He met with his brothers at the gates, and together they walked through the upper part of Domino. The past couple of weeks had been stressful for all of them. The old crony they were living with had tried to split the twins up, _again_. Now her biological son was in the Hospital, and the twins were both back in their Orphanage. Jou had quit the home, and returned with them as well.

"I swear, sometimes your luck is worse than mine," Yugi said throwing a grin at them.

"Where're you taking us?" Seth asked.

"I said I'd show it to you, right?"

"Where you ran off to? Three years ago?"

"Yeah. Besides the rules they set up for me was that if I went back alone, I'd be arrested. I'd be breaking my parole. I'm hardly alone though, wouldn't you say?"

Jou snorted, while the twins just rolled their eyes. All four of them knew that the Police force would hardly consider this proper company. What did they care though? Breaking the rules in life was only half the fun of living it. The other half was being alive enough to live it.

"So, where is this place?"

"This way. Follow me."

Yugi jogged ahead disappearing into the trees. The others quickly followed, but as soon as they broke the coverage of the first trees, he was already gone. Yugi smirked, and appeared from behind a tree several feet ahead of them.

"If you want to see, then you have to keep up. The Police got lucky, they won't be a second time."

"Nor will they care. You'll be 18, remember?" Seth asked.

"No, they'll care. They always have, just a little too much."

"Lucky," Jou muttered.

"I'd hardly consider it luck."

"I'm serious, Yug. You have people all around you who actually care for your well-being, and you don't even appreciate it."

"I never asked them to care. All I wanted was to be left alone by them, and they ignored me."

"Tch, ungrateful," Seto scoffed.

"Yeah, probably, I just don't care. Are you ready?"

"We're ready. After you."

Yugi smirked, before turning and taking off into the trees. His brothers were right behind him every step of the way. He ran for what seemed like almost an hour to the others but was really only 20 minutes, a dark dense forest had ways of throwing off your sense of time.

He led them to what looked like a wall that was just covered in ivy. He started feeling it up and down, like he was looking for something. Muttering under his breath.

"Yugi, what are doing?" Seth asked.

"I know it's around here som-WHOA!"

He suddenly fell forward into the ivy, disappearing without making a single sound. If his brothers hadn't been watching him, they'd have thought he just vanished. Yugi's head poked back out among the foliage, almost appearing to be floating there in thin air.

"Well, what are you waiting for, come on!" his head vanished back between the leaves again.

His brothers looked at one another before pulling the curtain of ivy aside to find a small tunnel there. They stepped inside one by one, as there was no room other than a single person to move about, into the space before them. They followed Yugi's vague shadowy figure down the tunnel, and into a cavern no bigger than a decent sized master bedroom. It was dirty and gross, and the others couldn't comprehend how Yugi had survived on the dirt packed floor all those years.

Yugi was rummaging with something on one of the walls, and a light flared to life, illuminating the space. To his brothers it just illuminated how little there was. There appeared to be a pile of furs in one corner, a flat rock in the middle, and parts of the rock wall had been dug out here and there to create little cubby holes.

"Yugi, this place is gross," Seto said.

"Yeah, I know, and if I hadn't been so lazy that night, they'd have never found me," Yugi agreed walking over to the wall opposite of the lantern hanging on the hook.

"What do you mean?"

"Not all is as it always seems, Twin." With those words he stretched his back, his elbows hitting the wall behind him. As he did so, another wall opened up, and a very bright light shone through the tunnel. Making the lantern seem like a spec of white on a dark canvas. Barely there, but still visible.

"Huh, I didn't think it would keep collecting after all this time, but hey, whatever works."

Yugi bounded over and through the second door. His brothers followed warily, but they still followed. Yugi shimmied up a ladder as soon as he entered and up to the roof, where 16 solar panels lay strapped onto the stones. They were a little dirty, but that could easily be cleaned up. He went over to a small box, and opened it to find that not only was the light's energy full, but the reserves were for it as well. No wonder it had been so bright. He shut the box, and went back down.

"Well, the panels are a little dirty, but I can easily clean that up when I come back for real. It would take far too much time to do today."

"This is where you lived?" Jou asked stunned.

"Yeah, this is home. The farmer who owns this land, we worked out a deal. I would collect berries, and clean his barn for him. In return he let me live here without turning me in. He even showed me how to hunt, which was why I looked healthier when they took me than I do now."

Yugi looked around at the place. His home, his real home. Fur pelts lined the ground, in one corner stood another flat rock, but had small cushions surrounding it. In another there was a wooden frame with a mattress balanced on it. There appeared to be some sort of makeshift blanket made of furs on top of it. Yugi laid down on it, and buried his nose into the blanket. He jumped up a moment later coughing and hacking. That would have to be another thing that he washed when he came back at 18.

He looked around again. It was simple, but it was his home. He walked over to the middle of the fur covered floor, right below the hole in the ceiling, and pushed some of the fur away. It revealed a wooden door, which Yugi lifted and moved away. Beneath was a stone pit that looked as if it had many fires placed within it. He played with some old charred wood, but it would be of no use to him if he wanted to start another fire.

"This is where I cooked," he said looking back at them. "The fire went here, and then I either put a grate over it or a spit to cook my food. Depending on what I was feeling that day. "

"Please don't tell me that you lived all those years on wild game, berries, and rain water," Seto said.

"No, not rain water. Ce'mere," he said getting up and leading them over to a little niche in the wall that they hadn't noticed before. It was a tight turn, but led to a shallow pool, with a steady stream of cold water trickling down the wall.

"Wow, you had everything, didn't you?"

"No. I had no company. It was okay though, I preferred it."

Yugi cupped his hands into the shallow water, and drank the captured water. It was as refreshing as he remembered it to be. The best water he had ever tasted. Like melted snow from a mountain top. Now, if only he knew what that tasted like, than he really could compare the two.

"Come on, we better get back, before they come looking for all of us," Jou said.

"Yeah, you're right," Yugi agreed reluctantly standing back up. He placed his hand on the cool wet wall, as if to tell it he'd be back soon.

They left the secondary cave, this time seeing as Yugi pressed the part of the wall that was just half a shade darker than the rest of it. He looked around, before blowing out the lantern, and walking back with them. He lingered before the curtain of vines, before pushing through, and walking out of the only place that had ever felt like home to him.

It was so much harder this time, though. Yugi wasn't unconscious in the blissful grip of sleep. No, this time he walked away on his own two feet. As unwilling as a sheep being led to slaughter. It was what he needed to do though. It was only until April though, then he'd be back. Then he'd be free.

Yugi gave his brothers a half smile as they tried to figure out which way civilization was. He laughed at them, as he motioned for them to follow him. They didn't run this time, just walked and talked as they made their way through the wooded area, and back onto a concrete path.

Yugi didn't think twice as he just walked past Kodai's police vehicle. Didn't acknowledge him, not even a glance in his direction. He just continued his conversation with his brothers, as he kept moving forward, moving deeper into civilization.

Kodai was less than bothered by it though. He'd just been sitting there to make sure the kid came back. He wasn't 18 yet, but it was no secret to anyone what was going to happen once he did become 18. He was going to be moving right back into the wilderness, and with him being an adult, there was nothing they could do to stop him.

So he just drove back to the station. Worried, but at the same time, unconcerned. He'd survived before, and he'd do it again. Kodai had no doubt. He'd be okay.

[Time skip]

"Hey, Penny, they said you wanted to see me first thing this morning," Yugi said plopping down into a beanbag.

"That's right. I have a graduation bucket list for you."

"I'm sorry, a what? Wait, do I have to do everything on it to graduate?"

"No, but I thought it was something you could do, to help you."

"Help me with what?"

"People."

"But I'm not a people person, Penny. You know this."

"I do," she agreed, "but if you're going to go to College, you need to learn how to get along with people. You're going to have a roommate, Yugi. So, I made a list of ten things for you to do before graduation. You don't have to do them all, but I would like to see at least half of them done. Here."

She handed him the piece of notepad paper, and he took it reluctantly. Holding it in his hands, he was wary to look down at it. Finally he did though, with no encouragement from Penny. She knew when not to push him, and could probably sense that this was one of those times.

 **1) Do not hit someone for a week**

 **2) Try out for talent show**

 **3) Visit your Mother's grave**

 **4) Try something new**

 **5) Connect with someone**

 **6) Tell a secret**

 **7) Smile for real**

 **8) Shake someone's hand**

 **9) Eat a sweet**

 **10) Hug a friend**

"Penny, come on, most of these things are impossible. Especially for me."

"Only if you believe that."

"I don't even know where she's buried."

"In the local cemetery. Do you want me to take you?"

"No. She wouldn't care if I visited her anyway. She's dead. She doesn't have a care in the world anymore."

"Yugi, that's no-"

"I have to get to class. Thanks, for this," he held up the paper, "I'll think about it."

Yugi fled the room. He'd never felt so uncomfortable around Penny before. He knew she was only trying to help, but he wasn't exactly sure how this was helping. All these things, she knew he couldn't do that. Some of them made him nauseous just thinking about them. And she wanted him to try to do five? He didn't think he could. No, he knew he couldn't. She was asking for the moon and stars, and he had no way of acquiring them. He couldn't do this. He couldn't.

That afternoon at track, Yugi didn't pay attention to anything. Not his team mates, not his coach, and not where he was going. So lost in thought, he just ran, his mind on the list. He never even knew that his steps had a sudden incline, that he was going up a hill. That his vision had changed from pretty picket white fences to tall trees, and dense foliage. He didn't notice any of this until he was hit by a sudden bright sun, as if it was closer to him, and he froze to look at his surroundings, really focus in on them, since he had first started running.

He was on his thinking hill. It was where he'd made the decision to disappear all those years ago. To start running away, back to the Orphanage. To become what the state called a runaway. He collapsed to his knees. Had his thoughts been that much in turmoil, that he'd actually ran all the way here? Ran, and not even noticed it?

"I don't know how…you can possibly…run up a hill…like this…as if it were flat ground," Marik said collapsing next to him.

"I didn't even notice," he admitted quietly.

"Lucky you. The rest of us…weren't so lucky."

"I'm sorry."

"What was that?"

"Dang, that's some hill," Atem said leaning against a tree as he tried to catch his breath.

"He said he was sorry," Marik whispered.

"Who did?"

"Drill Sergeant."

"Funny, but we all know that's impossible."

"I'm serious."

"Uh huh, sure."

"Whoo! Made it!" Akeifa cheered before collapsing face forward onto the grass. Yugi saw Marik check for a pulse, and breath out in relief when he must have found his racing one.

The rest came crawling up the hill. On a regular day, Yugi would've thought them to be pathetic. As it was though, all he could do was stare, before flipping on his back, and putting his hands beneath his head. The sun was slowly falling, giving way to darkness, and starlight.

"The stars here are pretty too," Yami said.

"Sure, I guess," Yugi replied.

"So, does anyone think we can actually win this Cross Country race thing?" Jason asked.

"A Disney ending come true," Yugi sneered.

"Just because you don't believe in unicorns, Yugi, doesn't mean the rest of us feel the same," Atem shot back.

Yugi outright laughed at that. Unicorns indeed. "Hey, since you're on the activities committee, I was wondering. Which talentless fools keep going for the talent show, but never make it?"

"Why?"

"Just a question."

"Gonna tease them?"

"Tempting, but not exactly what I had in mind. So, spill, which loser is it?"

"Losers, I think you mean. The Yen Band."

"Yen? As in Japanese currency?"

"Uh huh."

"Okay, I've heard weirder names, like 21 Pilots, but still, that one's pretty out there."

"Well, I wish we could do it," Jason interrupted, bringing their conversation back to what it was originally.

"Making wishes now, are we?" Marik asked. "Okay, I wish that Ryou would just give me one chance to make him happy."

"Ryou?" Yugi asked, alarmed, shooting up into a sitting position.

"Yeah," Marik replied in a dreamy tone. "I mean have you seen his moonlight skin, and ashen white hair? And don't even get me started on those big doe brown eyes. I could go on for days about them."

"I respect your choice," Yugi said slowly laying back down, "but you're aware he's still only interested in the ladies right?"

"Unfortunately."

"Just as long as you're aware of the fact that you're pursuing someone who will never be interested in you."

"You really don't believe in rainbows and unicorns, do you?"

"Nope, they don't exist."

"Right, my turn," Akeifa said, "I wish that my little brother's bullies would just leave him be."

"Want me to manhandle them?" Yugi asked.

"No, I do not want you to manhandle ten year olds."

"Offers on the table whenever you want to use it."

"If you want to manhandle something, then _manhandle_ Yami. I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Atem butted in.

"What do you mean, Atem?" Yami asked in an all so innocent way.

Yugi flipped over Atem, and did everything he could not to puke on him. Even Atem seemed surprised by his bold actions. "Actually, I much rather _manhandle_ you," Yugi replied in a light voice trailing a finger down his jaw line.

"Really?"

"Oh, yes. Don't you know how much I crave you?" Yugi asked as his hand traveled over his chest and down to his waist line, where he splayed his fingers flat across his stomach.

"This is news to me."

"I'm not sure why, I'd have thought it would be obvious to all, how much I want to manhandle you." Yugi didn't put the emphasis on the word this time, and Atem's eyes widened in realization a second too late. Yugi's hand came up, curled in a fist, and then went plowing back down into Atem's abdomen. He grabbed a fist full of Atem's hair, and yanked his head up until his ear what at his mouth. He filled it with hot breath and angry words.

"I would _never_ manhandle a _mindless_ _child_ , and you should be ashamed for suggesting such a thing. Offering up your own boyfriend to me, as if he were no more than an object of fancy. Disgusting. You're lucky I didn't do worse."

Yugi dropped him, and rolled back onto his back. He glared up at the stars as he fought down the bile in his throat. To be honest though, he wasn't even aware that he could seduce like that anymore. He hadn't had to do that since he was…small. Make the client feel at ease, rule number one.

"Hey, can you teach me how to seduce like that?" Marik and Akeifa asked at the same time.

"No. You'll just use it on the weak things that I live with. Can't have that, the Freshalls will only think I'm encouraging you to bully them."

"Bully?" Akeifa asked.

"Mm-hm."

"We don't bully them!" Marik shouted.

"I know, but that's how snow white and sidekick see ya. And who am I to disagree?"

"Actually, I think you're a very disagreeable person by nature," Mahad put in.

"Yeah, that may be. So, who wants to make a wish next?"

"I wish we'd gone on with life as if you never existed," Atem bit out.

"So do I," Yugi muttered.

"Atem! That's not nice!" Yami scolded.

"You're not the one he keeps hitting, Yami."

"I'm not the one who keeps offending him either!" he shot back.

Everyone but Yugi shot up to look at him. He merely rolled over onto his stomach to stare at Yami with this weird grin on his face. "Well, would you look at that, Mr. Possessive, he does have brains in that head of his, and he's been using them."

"We don't offend him!" Jason said.

"No, you and Mahad don't, but they do!" Yami pointed at Atem, Akeifa, and Marik. "At least once a day too."

"What're you talking about, Yami?"

"Like with what you just said, about him _manhandling_ me. That offended him, why do you think he punched you? I may not know what you meant by it, but _he_ did."

"Pointing's rude, Yami," Yugi said in a highly amused tone. To think, the cheerful one had him pegged down. Atem may have discovered his weakness, but Yami had discovered a way to stay safe. That was _far_ more valuable if you asked him.

"And when Marik tried to take the front seat, he doesn't like to be touched. Of course he was going to be offended by that. I found that out myself when I wrapped my arms around him when I was scared by those Benson boys."

"So why didn't he smack you?"

"Cause he thinks I'm the weakest out of all of us."

All eyes switched to him. "Oh, is that why you stopped your fist before it hit him?" Akeifa asked.

"He wasn't my target, and he couldn't take a hit anyway."

"Yes I could! I'm tired of you guys babying me all the time!" with those words, Yami shot to his feet and took off into the trees.

"No!" Yugi shouted jumping to his own feet. Fear, heavy, for the first time in his voice.

"What's he doing?" Atem asked leaping forward to go after him. Yugi grabbed his arm and jerked him to stop.

"Stay here. The last thing I need is for any of you to get lost as well. I know these woods like the back of my hand. Go back to town and get your Father and his men. We're going to need to comb this forest clean."

"But-"

"Go! Now! All of you! I'll track him."

"Here, take my phone," Akeifa said shoving it into his hand. "I'll have my Dad call you. But before we go, why are you so scared?"

"Coyotes," Yugi said simply before taking off in the direction that Yami had gone.

All he had was the moonlight, and the foliage here was thick. Much too thick to even use it. Then he thought of the phone, that Akeifa had shoved on him, and he flipped it open, using he flashlight on it. He checked the battery power on it to see it was at 75%. He just hoped he could find Yami in time.

Angling the light at the ground, he bent down, trying to find his footprints in the dirt. It took a little bit of maneuvering, he did find them. They were wide, which meant he was running. Running downhill.

Yugi followed alongside them, glancing up every once in a while to check his surroundings. The child had no idea in which direction he was going, that was obvious, when the footsteps stopped, and seemed to shuffle around, before picking another direction to run in.

Yugi paused around the shuffled footsteps to get his own bearings, and almost winced. There was a coyote cave not six feet away from where they stood. Thank goodness that wasn't where Yami had run off to. He was running in the opposite direction.

Yugi heard a soft panting before a coyote came trotting out of the foliage. He recognized this particular one though. Wounded by another hunter, Yugi had bandaged him up, and nursed him back to health. They'd seemed to have a standing code since then. This one coyote would not hunt him, and he in turn left it alone.

It sat down two feet from him, regarding him. Yugi nodded at it, and moved on. Good to know the three legged one was still alive. It just showed how much stronger than man animals really were.

Once he had taken a few steps in Yami's fleeing direction though, he turned around to see the coyote sniffing out his trail as well. It became clear to Yugi that they were hunting the same quarry, and if Yugi didn't find him first…

The coyote looked up at him, before trotting up to his side. They stared at one another for a moment, before the three legged one started to walk ahead of him, still sniffing the ground here or there. He wasn't running. He wasn't hunting. He was tracking.

Yugi had an odd feeling, like the coyote was paying back his debt. This would be the end of their truce. If the coyote found him in his part of the woods again, he'd not hesitate in killing him. The coyote looked back at him, its head raised slightly, and Yugi switched the phone off. He understood.

Yugi followed the sound of the soft padded footsteps to a small clearing of raspberry bushes. The coyote had stopped here, and was sniffing the ground, before sitting back on his hind leg. Yugi patted his head as he passed, to which he nipped lightly at the hand doing so, and then dove into those prickly bushes. Yugi turned the flashlight back on, and started to look for the path of someone stumbling into what would feel like barbed wire, and discovering it to be painful.

The coyote howled behind him, and he turned one last time to see him run off from him. They'd still trust one another, but their truce was over. He'd paid back his debt to Yugi. He was on his own now.

It really wasn't that hard to find the whimpering mass of flesh. All cut up, and several thorns still sticking into him. Yugi was not his mercy though, not in the sense that Yami was expecting anyway. He looked up at Yugi with hopeful childlike eyes.

"That was incredibly foolish," Yugi said before punching him in the temple. He didn't want to drag this boy out of the thorns, which was what he'd be doing if he was awake. Instead, he leant down and picked him up, like he was a bride.

The little Lamb was out cold, as Yugi carried him through the thorns, knowing exactly where he was. It didn't bother him that his legs would be all cut up by the time he reached the other end of the clearing. Nor that he was going to need new pants. His thoughts were only on one thing. The little virgin lamb in his arms.

Entering the trees on the other side, he walked for a good quarter mile before he came upon a road. Walking along this for six miles, he eventually came back to the civilization of Domino. Walking through the quiet streets, he headed straight for the Hospital, and walked in, dumping Yami in a wheelchair. Two hours later, and the kid was still out cold.

The nurses were on them in seconds. He batted his off, and turned the phone on again. It had a password on it, but Yugi had a way around that. Being invisible did have its perks sometimes as he tapped in a 22365, and the phone unlocked.

He called Atem to let him know he'd found his nonfuck toy, and was at the Hospital with him. The response he got was less than pleasing to his ear. If anything, it just made him angrier.

 _"_ _Great! That's great news. He found Yami, guys." There was nervous chatter of congratulations in the background. "So, now that you found him, mind finding us?"_

"What?"

 _"_ _We don't know where we are."_

"You were supposed to walk in a straight line down the hill."

 _"_ _We did, except we didn't know which side of the hill we were supposed to go down, so we just picked a side?"_

"I _pointed_ in the direction you were supposed to go."

 _"_ _Obviously, none of us were paying attention."_

CRUNCH!

Yugi looked at the phone in his hand. Oops! He let it fall to the ground, it was useless now anyway. He stepped on it as he left the Hospital, despite the protests of the staff. He didn't have time for bandages and bleeding legs, he had some more lost sheep to find.

[Time skip]

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Do you have any idea what time it is?!" Chief Kodai yelled from the other side of the door before it was even opened. "You're going to be grounded until your 30 for making your Mother worry like this!" he shouted yanking open the door to find Yugi there instead of his son.

"I'll make sure to relay the message. You got gps tracking on his phone?"

"Penny said they were with you."

"She wasn't lying. They _were_ with me, and then Yami went running off. He's at the Hospital now, and I pointed them in the right direction, but it seems they wanted to make their own way."

Kodai Sr. grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him up to his eye level. "Where's my son?"

"Put me down, or I'll sock you."

"Then I'll have you booked and processed."

"Oh, and will you be doing this before or after we find your son?"

"Honey! Honey, get the keys!"

"Before then, glad I matter more to you than he does."

"You don't," Kodai replied bluntly, "we just need to go to the station in order to track his phone."

"Can't you just call the company to do that?"

Kodai put him down, his arms sagging to his sides. He looked like a defeated old man for a minute. Then he squared his shoulders and went back into the house. Yugi picked at the underside of one of his nails as he waited for him to return. It didn't take long, and he was back with car keys and his phone, which he was already talking into.

Grabbing Yugi by the arm, he left the door wide open as he headed for his car. Practically tossing him in the back seat, he pulled out of the drive, and back towards where the woods were. Getting out, he handed Yugi the phone, and pointed to the little red dot on it.

"Where are they?" He asked in an angry voice.

Yugi couldn't help it, he laughed. He just threw back his head and laughed. Not at Mr. Kodai, no, he'd never do that, but at the position of the red dot. So easy. So stupid, too. He handed the phone back to Kodai Sr., and went marching into the woods.

He came back out five minutes later with the entire crowd, still laughing. They'd all been gathered on the edge of the city and didn't even know it. Geez, did any of them have data on their phone? Could've asked Google, **where am I?**

"I thought you said you checked all the areas around here, Akeifa!" Atem was complaining. All of them had a red blush on their faces. Yugi didn't blame them for being embarrassed. Less than two minutes from civilization, and didn't even know it.

"I did," he said back.

"Then why didn't you find the town?"

"It wasn't there before!"

"Towns do not get up and move!"

"I looked!"

"Yeah, right. Where you scared to be in the dark all alone?" Marik jibed.

"No! I'm a grown man! I'm not afraid of the darkness!"

"Heh, could have fooled us!"

"It's not funny, Mutou!" Jason yelled at the other teen who was leaning against a tree, and holding his sides, he was laughing so hard.

He just waved him off. Couldn't even speak. He found such a high amusement in their embarrassment. Lost sheep indeed. "Leave'em alone and they shall come home, wagging their tails behind them," he mocked barely getting the words out before he was laughing again. Sinking to the ground, his sides were starting to hurt.

Someone lunged at him, and he barely managed to dodge them by rolling away. His laughter stopped immediately as he crouched on the ground, trying to distinguish who had pulled such a foolish move. After a few seconds, he determined it was Akeifa holding his head and rolling on the ground in pain. Not that Yugi could blame him, he had just head butted a tree.

"Um, how's Yami?" Atem asked cautiously. All pairs of eyes settled on him, even Akeifa's pain filled ones.

"Cut up, bruised, and unconscious. He may have woken up by now though, I'm not sure. Some people got _lost_."

"Come on, I'll give everyone a ride to the Hospital," Kodai said grabbing Yugi by his arm and yanking him up. "You probably all need it anyway."

"Is this going to be a usual thing with you?" Yugi asked as he was flung into the front seat.

"Great, it's going to be like Penny's car all over again," Marik whined.

"Well, I do still need to book and process you for threatening to sock me."

"Oh boo hoo, it was a threat. Not an actual action."

"Fine! Then I'll book you for hitting that other Officer!"

"Which one?"

"Mutou!"

"Yes!"

"Just shut up."

"Your Daddy's not very nice, Possessive one."

"And you are?"

"Hm, fair enough."

"By the way, Sergeant, what did you do? Walk through barbed wire?" Mahad asked looking at his legs.

Yugi looked at them too, picking at some of the dried blood. "Something like that."

"Alright, everyone out," Kodai said parking in front of the hospital. Almost everyone got out, only Yugi didn't. "Out, Muotu!"

"Oh no, I'd like to be taken to the Freshalls, thanks."

Without a single word, George Kodai unbuckled him, opened his door, shoved him out of the car, and then took off, the door shutting in the process.

"Now, that was just rude," Yugi said standing up and brushing his clothes off. He hated Hospitals, the people fussed over you too much. And his point was proven, when as soon as he walked through the door, he was shoved into a wheelchair and carted off. Ironically enough though, they put him in the same room as Yami, who was indeed awake.

"Why'd you hit me?" he asked in a very whiny voice. It grated against Yugi's nerves in all the right ways.

"You told me you could take it."

"And you believed me?"

"No. Babies are just easier to carry when they're unconscious."

"I'm not a baby!"

"Mutou! Stop harassing my boyfriend," Atem demanded coming into the room.

"You're right, I should definitely leave that to you. Just don't become too provocative, alright?"

"You're sick!"

"You're the one who was suggesting earlier that I _manhandle_ him."

"Hmph, they still want to know how to _seduce_ like that."

"Not the right teacher for it. They're gonna have to find someone else. I almost threw up on you."

"Gross."

"Precisely."

"So, can we finish what we were doing earlier before Yami ran off?" Mahad asked bouncing into the room.

"What do you mean?"

"That wishing thing we were doing? Can we? Please?"

"Yeah, sure," Yugi complied. He would never admit it, but he wanted to finish it too.

"Right, I wish that I get accepted into Phoenix University, their photography program."

"Mahad, you're the best damn photographer in the area. If they don't accept you, they're idiots," Jason said as if he had said this a thousand times over before.

"I know, but…what if there's someone out there that's better than me?"

"Are you aiming for a scholarship or something?" Yugi asked.

"No."

"Than what's the problem? The only way you actually have to worry if they're better than you or not is if you're going out for a scholarship. You've just stated that you're not doing that, so you should get in fine. The only way thing that's standing in your way right now, is your own lack of confidence."

"And if that little speech doesn't inspire any, I'm not sure what will," Atem said sarcastically.

"I'm being realistic. As long as his grades are good, and he doesn't do anything reckless between now and graduation, he'll have no problem getting into Phoenix University."

"Heh, if you say so."

"It's common sense, Kodai! Oh wait, I forget, you don't have any of that. No wonder it doesn't make sense to you."

Atem rolled his eyes, "Yami? Your wish?"

"That Yugi would accept all of us as friends," he said biting his lip and looking down at his sheets.

"Fine, we're friends. Happy?"

"I don't know. You don't sound like you mean it," Akeifa said frowning.

"That's hardly my problem."

"What's yours then?" Marik asked.

"Honestly? I wish I wasn't such an abnormality."

"Pfft, too late for that," Jason commented.

"I know," Yugi replied smirking. "But a man can dream, right?"

"You have dreams?" Yami asked.

"Doesn't everyone?"

"Yeah, I guess they do."

"Alright, Mutou, they tell me you've cut up your legs pretty bad and are resisting treatment." A young man, looking as if he was in his early twenties, came into the room holding a clipboard.

"I don't need to be doctored, Doc."

"Well, according to law, you're still a minor and have no say in the manner. So, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

"How many men do you want to sacrifice, just to hold me down?"

 **So...no questions, awesome! On to the fun part. Thank you to everyone who have/are favorited/following this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed User and Guest alike. Please review. Midnight ;p**


	17. A- what?

**After such a long wait you'd think I'd have a longer chapter, but I don't. This one's kind of short. So, I do not own Yugioh, or any of the songs used in this story. Enjoy!**

Chapter 17

Yugi went to the school the next day feeling thoroughly cheated. His legs had been bandaged, and his teammates wouldn't stop going on about his disgruntled face. Hmph, they didn't have a five years old girl, with Leukemia no less, sitting on their stomachs. That Doctor did not play fair, but then again, Yugi never did either. But still, getting a five years old to do his dirty work. Despicable.

Glancing over his shoulder he saw that they were still tailing him. Shaking his head, he knew the easiest way to ditch'em. Without a single warning he took off in a flat sprint. Even after hearing shouts of surprise behind him, he didn't bother speeding up. There was no point to it really, he could out run any of them easily, as he turned a corner, and ducked into a niche. They ran past him without a thought.

Chuckling, Yugi, walked back towards the school, and went inside. He went straight for the auditorium where they were holding tryouts for the Talent Show. There they were, The Yen Band. They were arguing with who he assumed was the organizer off the Talent Show. Putting his fingers into his mouth, he whistled. Loudly.

"What if I sing with them?" he proposed.

The old woman narrowed her eyes at him. He didn't know this person, let alone had a nickname for them.

"And you would be?" she asked in a scratchy voice.

"Mutou."

"The Runaway?"

"That's me."

"Hm," she glared at him before turning back to the boys on the stage, "no, you're not participating because you grate on my ears."

"Hey, Tommy!" Yugi shouted, tossing him a packet of paper as he passed him on the stage.

"What's this crap?" he asked juggling it for a second before getting a good grip on it and holding it out for his drummer, and pianist to see. Tommy played bass and lead vocals.

"Escape the Fate," Yugi replied taking the microphone.

"We have nothing to lose," Lucas pointed out.

"He's right, Tommy, we don't," Sierra agreed.

"Ah, what the hell. We probably won't be any better, even with his help."

Yugi grinned as they pulled out music stands, and put the music on them in front of them. They tuned up their instruments, and jammed a few beats before motioning to Yugi. He in turn told them to go ahead. They started to play the instruments as if they knew them better than they knew themselves. Escape the Fate's Liars and Monsters playing flawlessly.

How did this happen to me  
I guess, I'm to blame  
I'm laying faced down on the pavement and I'm full of pain  
I just refuse to see  
My mind is Anarchy  
Anticipating and debating what is left for me  
(Me, me, me)

 _I am a Liar_  
 _I am no model figure_  
 _I am a Monster_  
 _And I am ashamed_  
 _Call me the Devil_  
 _My name's what you prefer_  
 _I come on shameless_  
 _But I am ashamed_  
 _I am ashamed_

 _I look for help_  
 _Can't find it anywhere_  
 _My own reflection is the one sight that I cannot bear_  
 _Look to the sky and find_  
 _Even the heavens cry_  
 _Anticipating and debating what is left to life_  
 _(Life, life, life)_

 _I am a Liar_  
 _I am no model figure_  
 _I am a Mons-_

"Alright, enough! I'll let you guys do it but only if he sings with you. No exceptions!"

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Sensei!" Sierra exclaimed.

"Yeah, whatever, I'm turning into a big softie," she grumbled tottering off.

"You know that song really well," Tommy accused as soon as she was gone.

"What? I can't like that song?"

"It suits you."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," he said simply before he started to help his fellow band mates pack up.

"What's the song called?" Lucas asked.

"Liars and Monsters," Yugi said tossing the microphone up into the air and catching it.

"So I expect we'll see you on December 16th?" Sierra asked.

"Is there something special about that date?" Yugi asked tossing the microphone again.

"The day of the talent show?" Tommy supplied.

"Oh right, yeah, of course. You know of all the things on the list, this was the easiest."

"What list?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Here you are!" a too joyful voice shouted. "We lost you!"

Yugi couldn't help it, he fell over himself with laughter.

"Yami," Akeifa sighed, "we didn't lose him; he lost us."

"On purpose too, probably," Marik muttered.

"What are they? Your posse?" Lucas asked.

"They wish," Yugi spat out his good humor vanishing.

"Quite the contrary," Atem added, "some of us wish we never noticed him in the first place."

"Only cause he keeps beating the crap out of you," Tommy sneered.

"He does not."

"Yes he does. You've shown up to school more than once with a bruise on some part of your body."

"You want a bruise? I'll show you a bruise!" Atem shouted flying at him.

Yugi checked him before he could even get within three feet of Tommy. Yugi knew he was more talk than action, as was apparent when his hands flew up and he cowered as soon as the other started to shout at him. Still though, locking Mr. Possessive in a headlock was not just fun, but kind of satisfying as well.

"Mutou! Drop him!" Penny shouted.

Yugi blinked, looked down at Atem, and then back up at her. "Okay," he agreed and released the other male. He fell, smacking his head against the edge of the stage. Yugi snickered as he walked away.

"Ouch," everyone said as Atem clutched his head in pain.

"Drop him?! Thanks Coach Yoru! A headache was just what I wanted today!" Atem shouted as Yugi walked from the room and down the hall.

Yugi took out the list and crossed off number two, try out for the talent show. He had no intention of showing up for the damn thing. The list merely said he had to _try_ _out_. Sometimes Penny could be a real fool, but who was he to complain? Her mistake was his gain.

His eyes slipped down to four and nine. He could knock out both with one swipe. He'd never eaten an Oreo before, and it was a sweet. He'd need a witness or two to this one though. It wasn't something he could do on his own. Maybe it was time he visited his Brothers for a change. Check out their living conditions.

Yugi smirked as he shoved the scrap of paper into his back pocket, and made his way to his locker where he took out the textbooks for the day, and jammed his backpack into the space.

When he arrived in his classroom they were all already there. He fell into his seat, and took the work out of his book that was due for today. Handing it to the little lamb, he turned to face the window, contemplating how he was going to be able to get out from under watchful eyes tonight so he could sneak away for a couple of hours.

By the end of the lesson, he was left with no other choice but to run away. Slip out the window, and sneak off, using the same technique he had used to get away when he was 11. Maybe he could…no, no, he needed to wait until April. When he came back he'd be 18, and it'd all be over then. Yeah, it'd all be over.

The hours since he made this decision seemed to drag by. And even work after seemed to do the same. Finally, Yugi climbed the steps to the temp, and headed straight for his room. Did his homework, ate with the family, and went for a small run. It was a perfectly normal evening, and yet, the male wouldn't stop staring at him as if he'd grown a second head.

"What?" Yugi finally asked as they bounded up the steps of the temp home.

"You've been acting weird all night."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been too nice."

"Just because I complimented her cooking that suddenly makes me too nice?"

"No, no, it was the _way_ in which you complimented her cooking which was too nice."

"You're losing it."

"I am not. You said, and I quote 'Mira, this food, it's really good.' You called my wife Mira, not female."

"Well it's her name isn't it?"

"Don't play with me. What're you planning?"

"Nothin'. I was just trying to be _nice_."

"Just don't leave the state."

Yugi was speechless as he tried to deny that he was planning on sneaking out later. The male simply nodded though, and went inside. Yugi let out a vibrating breath. That man. Damn, he was as good at this thing as Kodai Sr. He followed him inside, and went straight to his room where he took a long shower.

Yugi paced in his room afterwards, back and forth across the floor, dressed from head to toe in black. He was waiting for two am to roll around. When it finally had, he slipped out the window as quietly as a ninja would. Then he started to walk to the nearest bus station. They ran all night long, and were free after midnight.

He could feel the presence before he saw it. Dang, who was stupid enough to come after him in the middle of the night. Seriously, they must have a death wish. Though, he supposed he could give them a warning. Without giving one himself though, he whipped around, seized their throat, and slammed them against a tree. They struggled, choked, and grappled at his hand. That's when Yugi cursed, because he recognized them.

Dumping the Lamb on the ground, he waited until he got his breathing back before flipping him over with his foot.

"What're you doing out so late?"

"I saw you walking by my window, and slipped out of it to make sure you didn't get into any trouble."

"Okay, different question, what are you doing _up_ so late?"

"I have a sleeping disorder."

"Of course you do."

"I only need three to four hours a day to function properly."

"Keh, go home."

"No, I want to come with you! Can I? Can I? Please?"

Yugi let out a heavy sigh. _No_ , he could not come with him. If he took him home he'd be trapped in the Sennen's place all night. If he didn't though, the child would try to follow him anyway. That was Yami's character.

He leaned against the tree he'd previously slammed Yami against. There was no debate in his options. The obvious choice was very clear to him. Baka brothers. Give a way to fight, but a lesson to go with it. Honestly, who came up with _that_ bright idea?

"Yeah, come on," Yugi said walking back the way he'd just come from.

"Uh, weren't you going the other way?"

"Observant, aren't you? Come on."

"No!"

"Yami, come on."

"No, because then you're going to drop me off at my house and then walk off again."

"At this hour? No chance, I guarantee it. Nah, your Daddy will lock me in the house, and then call the male to let him know I'm safe and sound."

"Oh!" light footsteps ran up to him. "We can have a sleepover!"

"Not a chance."

"Aw, why not?"

"Cause I don't do that girly crap!"

"It's not girly!" Yami yelled in a pitch that was above normal for someone his age.

"Sure, and neither was that tone."

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"You better have a damn good excuse for why you're banging on my door at this hour of night!" Sennen Sr. yelled from inside before opening the door.

"What's up?" Yugi asked leaning against his door frame.

"Mutou? What're you…?" he trailed off as he caught sight of his son behind him.

"Lose somethin'?" Yugi asked pushing him out of the way, and walking inside like he owned the place.

"I don't care what you saw! Don't go following him around at this time in the morning again!"

"Hey, give the little Lamb a break. He was only curious."

"My son is not a lamb."

"Sure about that?" Yugi asked circling Yami like a big bad wolf. "He's sweet like one, soft like one, and I'm sure if we lifted a few articles he'd be clean like one too."

Mr. Sennen took a swing at him, and almost clocked his son instead. Yugi howled with laughter as he slid down the wall. Yami was in his lap, looking the perfect picture of cute befuddlement.

"Dear, what's going on?" the wife asked coming down the stairs.

"Nothing, Honey, go back to bed."

"Alright, but do try to keep it down. Some of us are trying to sleep."

"I'll do my best."

"Wow, your aim is worse than, Atem's. Though, I'm sure your son here could confirm whether or not that that is actually accurate. Assuming of course that they actually have made the bed creak a little."

"My bed doesn't creak. It's brand new!" Yami protested.

"What'd you do? Raise him in a box?"

"Something with enclosed spaces, and no bars or windows," Sennen said looking at his son with lost wonder. "Just go sleep on the couch, and Yami, back to your room."

"Yes, Sir!" Yugi said in a mocking tone.

"No, we're going to be in my room. We're doing a sleepover!" Yami said jumping out of his lap grabbing his hand and pulling him into his room before he could so much as protest.

"I want a virgin in the morning, Mutou," Sennen said.

"In what aspect?" he asked sticking his head out of the door. Sennen's eyes narrowed at him. "Don't worry, you'll have one. We wouldn't want to strip Mr. Possessive of the privilege, now would we?"

Sennen rolled his eyes before going back upstairs mumbling about a walking innuendo. Yugi chuckled before taking in Yami's room. It was far from how he expected it to look. The color of the room was a royal blue, with bright green curtains and bed spread. The kid knew that this wasn't Seattle right? Because he felt as if he just walked into a Seahawks fan's room. Then again, he wasn't even sure if Yami knew what football _was_.

"Hey, ever heard of Russell Wilson?" Yugi asked.

"Who?"

"Football QB of the Seahawks."

"Oh, I don't pay attention to sports much. What's a QB?"

"We really need to get you a proper education. A QB is a Quarterback. They throw the ball."

"Oh! He's the one with his hands always in between the legs of the one in front of him."

"Yes, yes, he is," Yugi said trying not to laugh. He knew that sentence was said innocently, but it sounded so wrong.

"I know who the QB is, Yugi!"

"Congratulations. You've actually learned something."

"Hey, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Will you teach me how to fight?"

"Why?"

"Because I want people to stop treating me like a child all the time."

"But you are a child, Yami. More so than the rest of us."

"See that! That right there is what I want to stop. I figure if I can defend myself then people will stop wanting to protect me all the time."

"Alright, but I'm not teaching you how to fight."

"What? But-"

Yugi put a finger on Yami's lips, silencing him and any whining he might have done. "I will teach you self-defense."

"Self-defense?"

"Yeah, it's like fighting, just less violent."

"Um, okay."

"We start tomorrow, after school."

"Really? You're really going teach me?" Yami asked with the cutest excited look on his face.

"Yes. Now shut up. I need to sleep." Yugi ordered grabbing Yami's pillow and putting it on the ground. He put his head down and pretended like he was asleep for the rest of the night.

[Time skip]

"Yugi! Yugi! Get up! Get up! It's morning!"

"Geez, you're way too cheerful at all parts of the day aren't you?" Yugi asked shoving the small weight off of him.

"I have a question."

Yugi looked over at him out of the corner of his eye. He couldn't help but notice that he looked like an excited puppy about to get a treat for 'being good'. "Another one?"

"Yeah! I've been thinking about this idea all night! You're going to love it!"

"Doubtful. Okay, what is it?"

"Will you go on a date with Atem and I?"

"Oh, Yami," Yugi grimaced his name as he turned away. He made it look like embarrassment, but it was really disgust. He didn't want the kid to see how disgusted he was by even the thought of that…proposal. How the hell was he supposed to tell him he wasn't interested, without being rude, in any way? Honesty here would solve all of his problems.

"So?" Yami asked placing a hand on his knee.

"Yami, do you want to know a secret? Something I've never told anyone before?"

This was a lie. His brothers figured it out long before he said anything. Yami nodded mouth open as he stared at Yugi in pure wonder.

"Alright. I…am asexual."

Yami gasped, and Yugi nodded. Yes, it was a big surprise, he knew, but he was. He was also very glad that Yami understood, and he didn't have to be rude by turning the kid down. Yami's hands flew to his backside, as his eyes widened with horror. Yugi frowned. He _did_ know what asexual meant right?

"No! Atem says we're not supposed to go that far until we're both ready."

The kid had no idea what asexual meant.

"No, no, not ass-sexual. Asexual."

"Atem said no. Not until we're both ready."

"Oh," Yugi laughed, he was going to be so dead for this. The opportunity was so golden though, how could he possibly resist? "I'm sure he's more than ready for that next step. He's just waiting on his boyfriend to perk up."

"Huh? I don't understand." He tilted his head in that oh-so-confused cute way of his.

"Too damn cute," Yugi sighed getting up and ruffling his hair. Yugi opened the door and started walking out.

"Wait, you never answered my question."

"Actually, I did. You just didn't understand the answer."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Out of my job description to explain it to you."

Yugi walked into the kitchen where Mr. and Mrs. Sennen were. Mr. Sennen was sitting at the table reading the newspaper, while Mrs. Sennen was making breakfast. Yugi snorted, typical American family stuff. Made him sick.

"You!" Mrs. Sennen screeched spinning around and pointing a finger at him. "What are you doing in _my_ house?"

"Husband invited me in," Yugi answered, throwing him under a speeding bus in the process without a care in the world.

"He did what?"

"But, Yugi, you still didn't answer my question. How is you being asexual an answer to my question?" Yami whined coming into the room.

"What on Earth have you been teaching this child?" Yugi asked looking at the pair of them. "Oh, and do you have any Oreo's?"

"Wow, that explains everything. I'm sorry, Mutou, but it does. And yeah, but they're not the regular size. They're the mini ones."

"Even better."

"And what do you need an Oreo for? If I recall correctly, my husband told me that you don't eat sweets."

"It's on my 'to do' list. Try something new, and eat a sweet. Never had an Oreo before, and it's one of those cheap sugar things."

"Um, alright, but at the first signs of sickness, you're going to spit it out right?" Mr. Sennen asked.

"No, I'm going to swallow it. Quickly. Do you know how disgusting it is to see someone else's chewed up food?"

"Um, alright, here you go. One mini Oreo." Mr. Sennen held out the small piece of black and white matter to him.

"Thank you," Yugi said nodding at him as he took it. He stared at it. About the size of a nickel, with Oreo printed on the outside of it. Bottoms up.

He put the thing in his mouth. Noting that it was rough when it first touched his tongue. Saliva quickly filled his mouth, as he bit down. It became instant mush. He almost did the opposite of what he told Sennen, and up chucked it and last night's dinner on his kitchen floor. Shuddering, he quickly swallowed the piece of disgusting food. The taste still lingered in his mouth though. Like a bad after taste.

"Are you okay, Mutou?" Sennen asked concerned about the color his face was becoming. It had a tinge of green to it.

"There, numbers 4 and 9 are done."

"I don't think that was a good idea," Mrs. Sennen said putting up a hand against his forehead.

Yugi smacked it away, "I'm fine," he grumbled. Then he turned and walked towards the front door. He opened it to find Atem standing there, hand raised to knock, he froze at the sight of Yugi.

"What're you doing here?"

"We had a sleepover!" Yami cried joyfully slinging an arm around Yugi's shoulders.

"What?"

Oh, it was too good. How could he possibly resist the temptation? "Yes, we spent the entire night in his bed. Cuddling."

Atem's face went red, and Yugi acted quickly. He pushed Yami back, out of harm's way, and ducked. Kicking Atem's legs out from under him, he hopped over the latter's form, and onto the porch area. Hopping down the stairs, he spun around and jumped to the left quickly. Atem stumbled into the street. Yugi laughed at him, before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking off.

What a good morning he was having. Knocked two things off his grad list, and pissed off Mr. Possessive to a new degree of anger. Good, good, morning. He dropped by the temp home to change clothes, before heading to school. The female had a lot to say about him being missing all night too. It was a rant that was easy to ignore. He'd heard it enough times.

When he got to the school gates the entire team was there, and Atem was still red in the face. It didn't look like he was angry though, but embarrassed. Yugi chuckled, one of the others must've pointed out the obvious to him. Pity. He wanted to dance again, and watch the weak little thing tire himself out as he tried to land a hit.

"Aw, did someone spoil my fun?" Yugi asked as he stood in front of Atem.

"Shut up," he growled at him.

"So? Who pointed it out?"

"I did," Akeifa said stepping forwards. "I told him that you were so obviously lying with your little comment. I mean, we can't even touch you without you flinching. And he was actually dumb enough to think that you were actually _cuddling_ with his boyfriend all night long? Get real! You'd sooner slap him, then you'd sleep with him."

"How astute."

"Ateeeem, what does it meeeean? What does he mean when he says he's asexual?"

"You couldn't even tell him?" Atem asked. "You brought the new word up, and you couldn't even explain it?"

"But he knows what it means."

"He does not know what it means!"

"So what does it mean, Kodai?"

"You know damn well what it means!"

"I do. However, this conversation wouldn't even be happening if he hadn't asked me out."

"What?"

"I was thinking we could go on a three way date."

"I'd rather rip my eyes out of their sockets."

"Ooo, can I pull your teeth? Since you seem intent on causing pain?" Yugi asked.

"Yami, asexual refers to a person who has no preference in gender."

"So he's bisexual?"

"No, I'm not. Man, no wonder he's so innocent! You're horrible at explaining the meaning of words. Asexual refers to someone who isn't _attracted_ to either gender. That's what I am Yami. I feel no attraction when I look at women or men."

"How come? I don't think that's natural."

"Heh, neither is your sexual relationship, but you don't see me making testy comments about it, do you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Fuck off."

With those words Yugi pushed past them all and made his way into the building. Without so much as a backwards glance, he went to the bathroom. Vomiting in the toilet, he quickly flushed the evidence. He rinsed out his mouth, and then splashed water onto his face. He looked at the man in the mirror, ashamed with his own actions for once.

He knew it wasn't Yami's fault. It was just the way he'd been raised. Innocent and kind. He wouldn't apologize though, not for his words. Yami…he'd touched a nerve. That was something you wanted to avoid as much as possible. Especially with someone like him.

Splashing more water onto his face, Yugi left the restroom, and headed upstairs towards the weight room. He took off his school jacket, and loosened his tie. Then he set into the sandbag, like he wanted to the little Lamb. His hands started to bruise and bleed, but still he didn't stop. Not until Penny found him at least.

"Yugi!" she shouted before he was pulled away from the sandbag by arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"I told a secret, and was judged for it."

She sighed, "he wasn't judging you. He was merely making a thoughtless comment."

"Thoughtless or not, that sandbag should be him."

Penny gulped, looking at it. Yami…would die if he got a beating like the sandbag had, and they both knew it. Probably why he was up here in the first place. Penny let him go, and he was right back at it. It was better this way. Better he hurt himself than a little Lamb.

Yugi continued at it, until he collapsed to the ground, exhausted, and sick. Not from the Oreo, he'd already purged himself of that sickness. No, this was an inner sickness. Something foul and bitter. Something he had no name for. He didn't like it. It made him feel weak inside and out.

"Oh, so the Coach did find you," Atem's voice suddenly filled the room.

"Go…away."

He didn't of course. He just had to take that as an open invitation to come closer. Sit down in front of him even. Idiot.

"He didn't mean it like that, you know."

"It still came out that way."

"True, it did."

"But what have you been doing to our hands?" the beginning of that sentence started out light, turning to horror for most of it.

"Were you voted to patronize me?"

"Mutou, I'm not playing. Their bloody and bruised!"

"Yeah, I'm well aware. Feels nice actually."

"It feels nice to hurt yourself?"

"Nah, to use raw power. It feels nice to unleash my emotions. However, I've found a new one I have no name for."

"Well, we what does it make you feel like?"

"Hey! You ain't my shrink! That title belongs to, Penny!"

"Well, how does it make you feel?" Penny asked.

"Bitter, cold, and foul. Like a tasting stale beer after it's been sitting in the old man's hand all night."

"Interesting analogy," Atem said.

"Ooo, regret is a new one for you, Yugi," Penny said as if she was smiling.

"Pfft, regrets are for pussies!"

"That's what you just described though. Pure regret with no filters to it. So, why are you feeling regret?"

Yugi sighed sitting up, and moving to lean his back against a wall. His wrists thrown over his knees, as he thought for a minute of how to answer her question. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate my brothers to you?"

"Once or twice. So, that lesson they taught you, is coming back with a nasty bite, huh?"

"Shut up."

"You know what they told you. Do nothing you'll regret, and you'll have no regrets to regret."

"I said shut up!"

"Only one way to fix it."

"I'm sorry, alright! Damn it!" he punched the cold hard floor.

"Don't apologize to me."

"I'm not. I'm apologizing to doofus over there," Yugi said nodding towards Atem. He held a finger pointing to himself.

"Yes, Kodai, you. You, more so than your pretty boy. He didn't even know how what I was saying was offensive."

"I'll accept, under one condition. You say I'm sorry using my name."

"Your name huh? Kodai doesn't count does it?"

"Nope!"

"Alright," Yugi said moving to sit cross legged from him. "I'm sorry…Ate."

Atem's bronze skin just flushed with color. Such a rosy color all over his body. Totally worth it to call him by the name Yami called him when they were in private. Or rather when they thought they'd been in private back when he was invisible.

"You-! I-! Oh, crap. How many others do you know about?"

Yugi didn't say a word, just let a slow grin split his face. Atem shuddered, his skin turning even darker in embarrassment. Yugi's amusement just grew. Totally worth it.

 **Hope ya'll enjoyed it. Wow two chapters in three days, I'm on a roll. Thank you to everyone who are/have following/favorite this story. Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed Guest and User alike. Please review! Midnight ;p**


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